super bugs... this is really dangerous
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:22 pm
So I don't know how much you guys know about super bugs, but having worked in a 5 hospital system, I can tell you they are very concerned about them. This article is frightening, 25% of the water samples they took in some place in India are registering the genes for a super bug.
The problem here is that organisms can pick up this DNA and incorporate it into their genetic makeup. If the right genes are picked up, then the organisms gain the drug resistance. As a matter of fact, this can occur within our own body and the article refers to an estimate that 500k people have the super bug gene "naturally" occuring in their gut.
There are some fringe research on GMO (genetically modified food) specifically with the Round Up resistant crops (roundup is an amazing plant killer so the idea is round up resistant crops can be sprayed en masse with round up which will kill the weeds). Cows ingesting GM wheat and corn end up having their gut bacteria changed due to the take up some of the genetic material from the GM crops. There have been reports of the intestinal tract becoming purple and the meat of the cow having a different texture.
Anyhow... its pretty interesting and at the same time, could be bad news if a serious, highly communicable disease were to pick up the super bug gene for drug resistance.
and to add some controversy, if Global Warming is such a huge problem and will kill us all then shouldn't we be equally worried about this situation? Do we need the UN to step in and try to dictate and enforce policies in this area? BTW, superbugs are basically the fault of the USA and our pharmaceutical and medical industry so we probably owe the world reparations like we do for the environment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/0 ... 46056.html
LONDON -- A gene that can turn many types of bacteria into deadly superbugs was found in about a quarter of water samples taken from drinking supplies and puddles on the streets of New Delhi, according to a new study.
"This is not a problem that is looming in the future ... there are people dying today from infections that can't be treated," said David Heymann, chairman of Britain's Health Protection Agency. He was not linked to the research.
As a comparison, the scientists also took 70 water samples from a water treatment center in Cardiff, Britain. No superbug genes were found in any of those.
He guessed about a half million people in New Delhi are now carrying the superbug gene naturally in their gut bacteria.
Drug-resistant infections, acquired in hospitals, kill 63,000 patients in the U.S. each year, and according to the CDC "are responsible for $20 billion in excess healthcare costs, $35 billion in societal costs and $8 million in additional hospital days."
The problem here is that organisms can pick up this DNA and incorporate it into their genetic makeup. If the right genes are picked up, then the organisms gain the drug resistance. As a matter of fact, this can occur within our own body and the article refers to an estimate that 500k people have the super bug gene "naturally" occuring in their gut.
There are some fringe research on GMO (genetically modified food) specifically with the Round Up resistant crops (roundup is an amazing plant killer so the idea is round up resistant crops can be sprayed en masse with round up which will kill the weeds). Cows ingesting GM wheat and corn end up having their gut bacteria changed due to the take up some of the genetic material from the GM crops. There have been reports of the intestinal tract becoming purple and the meat of the cow having a different texture.
Anyhow... its pretty interesting and at the same time, could be bad news if a serious, highly communicable disease were to pick up the super bug gene for drug resistance.
and to add some controversy, if Global Warming is such a huge problem and will kill us all then shouldn't we be equally worried about this situation? Do we need the UN to step in and try to dictate and enforce policies in this area? BTW, superbugs are basically the fault of the USA and our pharmaceutical and medical industry so we probably owe the world reparations like we do for the environment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/0 ... 46056.html
LONDON -- A gene that can turn many types of bacteria into deadly superbugs was found in about a quarter of water samples taken from drinking supplies and puddles on the streets of New Delhi, according to a new study.
"This is not a problem that is looming in the future ... there are people dying today from infections that can't be treated," said David Heymann, chairman of Britain's Health Protection Agency. He was not linked to the research.
As a comparison, the scientists also took 70 water samples from a water treatment center in Cardiff, Britain. No superbug genes were found in any of those.
He guessed about a half million people in New Delhi are now carrying the superbug gene naturally in their gut bacteria.
Drug-resistant infections, acquired in hospitals, kill 63,000 patients in the U.S. each year, and according to the CDC "are responsible for $20 billion in excess healthcare costs, $35 billion in societal costs and $8 million in additional hospital days."