Use of Antibiotics

After reading the Antibiotic Resistance 101: How Antibiotic Misuse on Factory Farms Can Make you Sick article, I learned that antibiotics are losing their effectiveness because agriculture are misusing it for their livestock. In 2011, the article stated that the FDA reported that 80% of antibiotics are sold for agriculture use. This is my first time I heard about this fact and I’m really surprised that a big percentage of antibiotics are used for animals. According to the article, agriculture uses antibiotics to prevent disease and promote growth among their livestock. They give their animals low doses of antibiotic over a long period of time. In result, these animals can develop antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria. People can get the AR bacteria if they eat the meat of animals that are contaminated by AR. The article mentioned that FDA banned the use of some antibiotics for agriculture. Why can’t they ban it all? I think the congress and FDA need to work together and enforce the use of antibiotics for agriculture. In addition, the livestock producers need to be educated about the possible health consequences of using antibiotics for their livestock. They need to understand that the antibiotic resistance can affect people’s health because they eat the meat of animals that might have the AR bacteria.

In the Nearby Livestock May Raise ‘Superbug’ Risk article, I learned that people who lives nearby livestock is threatened by getting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This is an infection that have antibiotic resistant. The article also stated that people who don’t live nearby livestock are getting the livestock-associated MRSA in recent years. This is scary information. I feel like the government needs to assess the problem as soon as possible before it became an epidemic. The FDA needs to check and regulate the livestock farms where there might be an MRSA outbreak.

After reading the blog about antimicrobial soaps, I became a little hesitant of using my antimicrobial soaps at home, work, and school. Before reading this article, I never paid attention to look at the ingredients of the antimicrobial soaps that I used at home. The blog mentioned that most antibiotic wipes and soaps have an active ingredient called triclosan. Triclosan are also found in mattresses, plastic lunch boxes, refrigerators, and etc. This made me wonder if triclosan can cause any adverse health effects to people. The blog also mentioned that triclosan can end up in our water supplies and sewage treatment plants. Does it mean I might have triclosan in my body? The blog talked about that antibacterial soaps and wipes might not only be killing the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria that live in our body. With what I learned, I think I will decrease my use of antimicrobial soaps and hand sanitizers. I will wash my hands more with water and normal soap.

In the report about antimicrobials in hospital furnishings, I found out that manufacturers are producing furniture that contained antimicrobial agents. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Will this be effective in reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)? As the report mentioned, I think the proper practice of hand hygiene and cleaning and disinfecting are still the best solutions to reduce healthcare-associated infections. The report stated that some antimicrobial coatings can lose its effectiveness over time so I don’t think this is cost-effective. I also learned that coatings that contained chemicals like silver can be broken-down and released to the environment over time. These chemicals can end up in our waste water treatment plants and it can cause negative health effects to people. I don’t think I’m in favor of hospitals using furniture that contained antimicrobial agents. We need to do more research studies if these antimicrobial furnishings can reduce HAIs and to make sure that these coatings made of chemicals are not harming us.