Thursday, February 3, 2011

Blog Assignment # 4

A new antibiotic-resistant bacterial super bug has appeared in the U.S. for the first time. Read the full article and comment on the question below:

  • Do you think we will see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. now? Why or why not?

24 comments:

  1. Lissette Fred FloresAugust 24, 2016 at 3:08 PM

    Untreatable bacterial infections rise in the U.S. That sounds like one of those end of the world movies to me. However, there might be some crazy explorative, potentially evil scientists making experiments in a secret lab somewhere around the world. We all have different hobbies, you never know. I do believe that anything is possible. We are only limited by our minds and our actions. That being said how do we know this isn’t happening already. I mean, there are so many diseases in this planet. Some claim that cures have been found, yet people continue to die from those same diseases. This world is full of people who live in extreme levels of poverty. In need of water and food. People who eat dirt or trash and drink dirty and polluted water because that’s what’s immediately available to them so they don’t die. We can carry bacteria’s, viruses, infections and diseases wherever we choose to go. These are very often transferred from human to human thru various forms of interaction. We would have a higher risk of becoming infected if we travel to regions that have these extremely rare bacteria’s. I have not yet traveled anywhere outside the U.S. territory so I don’t know for sure what the regulations are but I have seen in several movies that at the airport, each country has rules and regulations for the people who would like to enter a country or leave it. They may ask the reason for the visit, the country of origin, etcetera. I can imagine that one reason these rules are there is to keep these bacteria’s, viruses and diseases from spreading. For me this one is a hard one. I want to say no but I just know there’s a lot more to things than what meets the eye. Not everything that happens in the world gets talked about in the news or on some internet article. That scientist I mentioned earlier could have been working on something that turned out wrong, it spread and we are actually all zombies right now. In conclusion, I think that with all the rules and regulations the U.S. has, if something like that ever happens I may be inclined to think it’s some kind of conspiracy.

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  2. Untreatable infections! That sounds like a “Contagion” scenario. It sounds like a challenge for pharmaceutics and a headline frenzy for the media. There may be conspiracies where saying that most of these infections and different types of illness may be controlled by a government. Heck! It could even be a monopoly! I do believe that bacteria can create resistance against antibiotics. Compare it to cockroaches! They have been around bug sprays so long that they have learned how to resist it. Sooner or later many bacteria will achieve the same thing. I don’t think there will be a moment where antibiotics won’t help treat an infection. Science keeps progressing! I do believe that the more dependent we become of antibiotics, more chances of bacteria becoming resistant to them can become a true nightmare. I still don’t see a rise on untreatable infections in a short future, but it is probable of happening, especially in countries in countries like the U.S.A. where eating habits and physical work is declining. Where they have learned to depend more on a pill than on a meal. It is very probable. Yet, I think this could take a lot of time, though I find it a bit scary or worrying that this happened with a 50- year old antibiotic. I consider it a short period for bacteria to create resistance against antibiotics. We should learn to depend more on our eating habits and in our exercises than on chemicals. These can finish affecting our body more than helping it.

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  3. Kristell Calderón PeláezSeptember 1, 2016 at 10:43 PM

    It might be a rise in untreatable bacterial infections, because as the article said, people are taking antibiotics too frequently which means more opportunity for bacteria to develop resistance against medicine, therefore we should minimize the consumption of antibiotics and use them only when is necessary However, if we reach that point I do not think doctors and scientists are not going to investigate until they find the solution to eliminate that bacteria. Science is highly developed and so far they have discovered the cure for almost every sickness, so I do not have doubt that they will find a way to fight bacteria.

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  4. Nichole Ramos EstremeraSeptember 13, 2016 at 5:11 PM

    Our world is a mysterious and terrifying world if you look at it from the perspective of people who have had an experience close to dead. Specially if it is related with infections.I consider that antibiotics are not part of the solution, it is an unending story. You go to the doctor he or she gives you a pill and you feel like you have the solution for your problems, you go back home and think that your problem is solved. No, people who take antibiotics too frequently are expanding the opportunity for bacteria development and later consequences in life. In addition my opinion is that we are blind and we are not seeing the bigger picture. Maybe we will see a rise maybe not it only depends on how prepared you are going to be for that moment, I just hope for us to be aware and protected enough for upcoming conspirators or changes.

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  5. Erika Montalvo GuzmanNovember 6, 2016 at 8:47 PM

    I definitely think we won't see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. I feel as if the government are behind this. They are slowly inventing these new incurable diseases so we can spent more money on vaccines. The world is slowly coming to an end. Its bad enough that zika already exist but now more bugs are becoming immune. With that being said i think thats why the government could possibly be behind this to help the economic system. Even though science is improving i feel as if this is done on purpose.

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  6. Erika Montalvo GuzmanNovember 6, 2016 at 8:57 PM

    I definitely think we won't see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. Even though everyone looks at the U.S for cures. I feel as if the government are behind this. They are slowly inventing these new incurable diseases so we can spent more money on vaccines. The world is slowly coming to an end. Its bad enough that zika already exist but now more bugs are becoming immune. With that being said i think thats why the government could possibly be behind this to help the economic system. Even though science is improving i feel as if this is done on purpose.

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  7. Alondra J. Ramirez PiñeroNovember 7, 2016 at 10:20 PM

    Certainly I would not be surprised if something like this untreatable bacterial infection rises in the US, and in the future, to PR. It’s alarming the fact that bacteria like this one, are becoming resistant to antibiotic. What makes it worse is that people, like it said in the article above, are taking these antibiotics to frequently, so that makes the bacteria develop resistance against the medicine. Which then develops the people use more stronger antibiotics and as an effect to that, it complicates your health more. Another thing that makes this worse is that this gene, rides on a loop of the DNA, so it could spread easily. So it definitely makes me worry about a possible future to our country. We need to start having a healthier live and stop depending on so much medicine.

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  8. Alondra J. Ramirez PiñeroNovember 21, 2016 at 11:56 PM

    • Certainly I would not be surprised if something like this untreatable bacterial infection rises in the US, and in the future, to PR. It’s alarming the fact that bacteria like this one, are becoming resistant to antibiotic. What makes it worse is that people, like it said in the article above, are taking these antibiotics to frequently, so that makes the bacteria develop resistance against the medicine. Which then develops the people use more stronger antibiotics and as an effect to that, it complicates your health more. Another thing that makes this worse is that this gene, rides on a loop of the DNA, so it could spread easily. So it definitely makes me worry about a possible future to our country. We need to start having a healthier live and stop depending on so much medicine.

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  9. Kiara Ramos MeléndezNovember 29, 2016 at 2:48 PM

    For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin. Scientists and public health officials have long warned that if the resistant bacteria continue to spread, treatment options could be seriously limited. Routine operations could become deadly. Minor infections could become life-threatening crises. Pneumonia could be more and more difficult to treat. Already, doctors had been forced to rely on colistin as a last-line defense against antibiotic resistant bacteria. The drug is hardly ideal. It is more than half a century old and can seriously damage a patient’s kidneys. And yet, because doctors have run out of weapons to fight a growing number of infections that evade more-modern antibiotics, it has become a critical tool in fighting off some of the most tenacious infections. Bacteria develop antibiotic resistance in two ways. Many acquire mutations in their own genomes that allow them to withstand antibiotics, although that ability can’t be shared with pathogens outside their own family. Other bacteria rely on a shortcut: They get infected with something called a plasmid, a small piece of DNA, carrying a gene for antibiotic resistance. That makes resistance genes more dangerous because plasmids can make copies of themselves and transfer the genes they carry to other bugs within the same family as well as jump to other families of bacteria, which can then “catch” the resistance directly without having to develop it through evolution. Late last year, as part of a broader budget deal, Congress agreed to give hundreds of millions of dollars to the federal agencies engaged in the battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Other funding went to the National Institutes of Health for research on combating antimicrobial resistance, as well as to an agency known as BARDA, which works on national preparedness for chemical and biological threats, including developing new therapies.

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  10. Is there a possibility of a rise of an untreatable bacterial infections? hmm I don't think that would come to happen. First of all God would not allow the entire world to become like the show, "The walking dead". To me there would be no point of the earth existing if that would come to be.Is there a possibility for bacteria to be untreated in certain people, I do. I do because the person may be taking antibiotics over and over again and their system may become immune to it and it allows the bacteria to grow resistance. I think the doctors should be able to limit the amount of antibiotics their patients should take, and as well as we should turn to natural remedies. We should find ways to cure bacteria by using things from nature. There many reasons why God left many plants and vegetables. But to conclude there may be a rise to bacterial infections being untreatable but I don't think that it will take over.

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  11. I definitely think they will keep on spreading, antibiotics have been over-used lately. This has been health professionals work(doctors and veterinarians) and even Pharmacies which sell antibiotics without prescription. Also people that work with live-stock can easily get these antibiotics and use them freely. People auto-medicate themselves, these kind of things is why there should be more controls for these type of things. Even “weak” or “soft” antibiotics should not be allowed to be used so freely. Many people don’t complete their whole treatment and by doing this the bacteria get’s stronger.

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  12. Camille Elise Colon RipollDecember 4, 2016 at 6:36 PM

    Do you think we will see a rise in the untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. now? Why or why not?


    Yes, because we have become humans’ dependent on drugs. It’s interesting that doctors are saying that it’s our fault because we drink so many drugs to get better, but in reality they have a fault as well. Firstly, humans used to depend on plants and natural remedies to get healthy. Now a day, we go to the doctor waiting to get better but end up in the hospital because of the drugs that were give to us in the first place. We use the actual decease to be insured that we will not get infected and be able to live on. Bacteria are like mosquitoes; they keep coming out with new shields. It won’t surprise me when we all die because we are breathing oxygen.

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  13. I mean, it’s possible. Science has proven that bacteria can adapt to their environment, so it’s not impossible to assume that one day we’ll see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections. And that’s without bringing up just how often people take antibiotics. However, whether or not it’s a big deal is another issue. The article points out that this particular bacteria can spread it’s genes amongst the other of its kind, so the problem right now would be to contain it. Also, since the person in question must have taken a lot of antibiotics to make their bacteria adapt to it, we can assume that it’s not a small number, but it’s definitely not on the level of a pandemic. My point is that to create super bacteria, certain conditions need to be met, so the affected number may not be as big as we might be afraid of. Finally, these super bacteria don’t automatically make all other dangerous bacteria immune to our toughest antibiotics, like I said, certain conditions need to be met, so we can still use our other antibiotics to treat regular infections. However, I do see this as a warning that we should be careful as to what we do and what we take. Because creating a bunch of super bacteria that could throw us back to the time before modern medicine is now very possible, but it’s also up to us.

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  14. Yes; society today is a quick one. We want quick food, quick access, quick money, quick resolutions and quick cures. Long gone are the days which we had the patience to wait for things and this obsession with speed has trickled it's way through the fabric of our day to day lives including our reactions to something as simple as the common cold and stretches to even our treatment of more serious cases of disease. This increased desire for speed has as the article stated made our dependence on drugs all the greater which has decreased our ability to fight these infections as they come along. Infections rise as our world gets smaller and our use of space becomes more congested and this is only worsened by our need to do things quickly as opposed to thoroughly so

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  15. Jeriel Estevez GarciaDecember 5, 2016 at 2:32 AM

    Do you think we will see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. now? ummm maybe, idk thats a correct answer but it does depend on why and how this "new" bacteria becomes suddenly immune to antibiotics. This smells like one of those "world war Z" type of conspiracies or storylines. Where there's this virus that isn't strong enough to fight antibiotics now is out of nowhere deadly. Im sorry i am one to believe that the CDC manufactures diseases, viruses, and bacteria. wether its for the military to develop bio-weapons, to control a certain population, or for studies to learn to fight against a bio-weapon. researching and containing all of that is just to suspect on the CDC's part and the government. if there is a rise infections/viruses/bacteria being able to withstand antibiotics then i kind of put some of the blame on the CDC. with that being said both the CDC and the medical field work hand in had just to make money. how do we fight back against such control? change our diet, eat raw and non processed foods and the amazing body that god has given us we will stand a better chance against these super bacterias that magically create themselves.

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  16. I think there could be a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. The rapid emergence of resistant bacteria is occurring worldwide, endangering the efficacy of antibiotics, which have transformed medicine and saved millions of lives.1–6 Many decades after the first patients were treated with antibiotics, bacterial infections have again become a threat.The antibiotic resistance crisis has been attributed to the overuse and misuse of these medications, as well as a lack of new drug development by the pharmaceutical industry due to reduced economic incentives and challenging regulatory requirements.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified a number of bacteria as presenting urgent, serious, and concerning threats, many of which are already responsible for placing a substantial clinical and financial burden on the U.S. health care system, patients, and their families.

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  17. Joseadan Collado ConsuegraDecember 5, 2016 at 11:54 AM

    Simply put, yes. We go to the bathroom and we watch our hands with anti-Bacterial soap, we go out somewhere and we have anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, everywhere we go we are constantly trying to sanitize, or wash the bacterias away. The thing is that our body creates antibodies towards the bacterias we encounter. The more we try to eliminate and combat them, they keep changing strands. A couple of years ago, I was taken to the hospital for a simple infection of a cut, normally, it wouldn't have been a big deal; maybe a board spectrum of antibiotics would have done the trick. Sadly, that was not the case, I was hospitalized and given special antibiotics because my strain was resistant to typical antibiotics. Bacteria evolves and like anything else, will fight to survive. We have to understand, that the more we use anti-bacterial products or antibiotics the more the bacteria will change. With that being said, I don't believe that the rise in untreatable bacteria will be such a huge deal; truthfully, the government, is working hard and allocating funds in research, specializing in just that. Different bacterias will rise but so will different ways combat them.

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  18. Jasmine Campos LongoriaDecember 5, 2016 at 3:26 PM

    Do you think we will see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. now? Why or why not? I actually do think we will be seeing a rise in untreatable bacterial infections, especially in the U.S. This country is actually really unhealthy looking at it as a whole. These bacteria don't just pop up out of nowhere, everything around us affects. It all depends on our lifestyle and varies with each individual person. What we eat will definitely greatly affect our health sooner or later. Also, the amount of exercise and sleep and hydration we get. All these things come together to determine how weak or strong our immune system is. But like the article said, people take antibiotics too frequently, that really isn't good because then bacteria will be immune to more things and it will be harder for our bodies to fight it off. I believe things can be prevented from the start, but a lot of people are too comfortable with the way they do things that all they will do is hope they don't get infected and that someone comes up with a cure.

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  19. Hugo C. Gregorio BustosDecember 5, 2016 at 4:25 PM

    The era of antibiotics is coming to a close. In just a couple of generations, what once appeared to be miracle medicines have been beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were designed to knock out. Once, scientists hailed the end of infectious diseases. Now, the post-antibiotic apocalypse is within sight. And this is the optimistic view based on the assumption that drug companies can and will get moving on discovering new antibiotics to throw at the bacterial enemy. Since the 1990s, when pharma found itself twisting and turning down blind alleys, it has not shown a great deal of enthusiasm for difficult antibiotic research. And besides, because, unlike with heart medicines, people take the drugs for a week rather than life, and because resistance means the drugs become useless after a while, there is just not much money in it. But it is not just an issue in advanced medicine. Antibiotics are vital to abdominal surgery. For a long time now, doctors have known they were in a race to stay a few steps ahead of the rapidly growing resistance of bacterial infections to antibiotics. Ten years ago, the so called superbug MRSA caused front page panic. But it's like putting a finger in a hole in the dam, only to find the water surges out somewhere else. Bacteria are great survivors.

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  20. Cristian Carrero MedinaDecember 5, 2016 at 5:01 PM

    Do you think we will see a rise in untreatable bacterial infections in the U.S. now? Why or why not?

    To understand the topic we have to describe some concepts. First the bacteria are microscopic living organisms, usually one-celled, that can be found everywhere. They can be dangerous, such as when they cause infection, or beneficial, as in the process of fermentation (such as in wine) and that of decomposition. An antibiotic it’s a substance that is prepared with specific antigens that attached to the bacteria receptors and kills it. There’s people that abuses the use of the antibiotics and that makes that the bacteria create a resistance for it. In cases like that they had to increment the doses of the antibiotic or use another one stronger. For me there’s going to be a rise of that kind of bacteria. The temperatures on the planet are getting higher on this days, and that benefits the bacteria life cycle. If we don’t do something to help our planet there will be a rise of the bacteria. If the bacteria it’s not treated right you could get or spread an infection. Those infections can give us many symptoms and affect our body and its functions. So for me, there’s going to be an increase of that kind of bacteria.

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  21. David A. Corrales BerumenDecember 5, 2016 at 6:24 PM

    A rise in an untreatable bacterial infection, sounds like a movie. Bacteria are living organisms so they are constantly trying not to perish, just like humans, no human wants to die, and their way of surviving is to adapt and to evolve according to their environment, by becoming more resistant to whatever wants to kill them. An example would be antibiotics, so it isn’t a surprise for bacteria to be resisting certain of them, it has always been like that, bacteria change and so do antibiotics, there is a reason why we have many of them. So that’s exactly what I think is going to happen here, the resistant bacteria are going to be out there for a while, so there will be a “rise” of untreatable bacteria but no to the point of a global epidemic like the question makes you imagine it, however it’s only until scientists make a stronger antibiotic. Robert Skov summarizes my point by stating in the article: “The scenario now is that once in a while, we’ll see a patient carrying bacteria that we don’t have any good antibiotics left for”.

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  22. we never know, this world is a place full of mysteries, sometimes we can see a sickness running around and in the next minute there is another one, for most medicines that may exist this kind of bacterias are never going to disappear,. Oh, and off course those antibiotic and stuff that people take often may cause more infections or bacterias, you know what humans does not understand the danger of all this things that are suddenly happening around the world.

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  23. Daniel Robles BarriosDecember 5, 2016 at 9:58 PM

    Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is very bad, because then there is no way to help an d kill some very dangers bacteria. Antibiotic resistant bacteria aren’t made one day to another; there is some ways a bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics. Years ago the discovery of antibiotics revolutionized humanity heath, but since its discovery their hasn’t been a lot of new discoveries and this can be very bad because bacteria are in constant adaptation and they can adapt to become resistant to the antibiotics. A way they can become resistant is by the constant use of the same antibiotic, eventually some bacteria survive and transfer their resistance to the next generation of bacteria. The constant use of the same antibiotic in the hospitals, people buying antibiotics without the doctors’ instructions and the food industries are helping the bacteria to become stronger to antibiotics. The food industries contribute to this problem because when they grow the cows, pigs or birds they do it on very small places where every animal is practically on top of another; because of this way the animals live they get more often sick, for this reason the owners of this companies pomp the animals so they don’t get sick. When we consume the meat, we are also consuming the antibiotics and the batteries that are in our system also get some antibiotics but it is not enough to kill the bacteria, so the bacteria become resistant. I think, if scientist don’t discover or make a new antibiotics, there is the possibility that a super resistant bacteria might appear.

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  24. I think that it could be, because the article mention that the problem is, that scientists have been pointing out for years, that people are taking antibiotics too frequently. More use of antibiotics means more opportunity for bacteria to develop resistance. They are saying that even with these colistin-resistant bacteria emerging all over the world, it doesn’t expect thousands of people to become infected (skov). I think it is because by using so much antibiotics, the body will not be more resistant to the bacteria, and the immune system is getting worse over time. The scenario now is that once in a while, we’ll see a patient carrying bacteria that we don’t have any good antibiotics left for (P. McGann et al 2016). At the same time I think that in the USA they have many possibilities and knowledge in medicine that can help to control the different bacteria that can present.

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