RE: Antibiotic resistance: We can develop new antibiotics, but need a new way to finance it
A boost in research of antibiotics is critical. Science is slow, and although the budget is an important factor, doubling the budget does not mean cutting the times in a half. Metal nanoparticles may be very useful in future, but unlike current antibiotics they are extremely toxic, so they should be incapsulated and conducted to the bacteria inside our body, and that is very difficult.
In the meantime reducing the human consumptiom of antibiotics can save many people for getting resistant bacteria, but use of antibiotics in cattle is the bigger cause of bacteria resistance and it seems that nobody talks about it. Cattle systematically receives big amounts of antibiotics along all their life, and traces of this antibiotics are spread to the soil, water and meat.
Starting by 2006 the EU banned non-medicinal use of antibiotics in livestock production, but according to the stats the amount of antibiotics used in cattle industry only has been greatly reduced in a few countries like Sweeden. Starting by 2017 USA did the same, but biggest producers of meat like China and Brazil have done almost nothing to solve this issue.
Yeah, the use of antibiotics in livestock is massive. I've heard that even clothes we buy are added antibiotics to keep them from smelling after being stored in boxes for months and months.
In the short term, reduction of antibiotics is crucial. In some countries, however, one can purchase antibiotics over the counter in drug stores, even without consulting a medical doctor. These countries need to put a stop to this practice, and make sure antibiotics are only available on prescription.
I have found that some clothings have antibiotics and they are sold as antimicrobial to "germ-phobic" people. They are dangeorus to the environment, can poison babies and children who lick them, and they are quite uneffective because after a few washes the effect disappears.
http://www.nyrnaturalnews.com/environment/2011/12/antibacterial-clothing-a-fashionable-threat-to-human-health/
Sounds like we need some (international) legislation to overcome this (I presume) misuse of antibiotics.
Completely agree, this is a global problem and cannot be solved without international actions.