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There’s a dangerous killer lurking inches from you feet as you stand in your shower. No it’s not a new type of spider, or even rats. It turns out that drains, dishwashers, shower pipes and all the other outflows are perfect breeding grounds for all sorts of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Writing in New Scientist, Alice Klein reports on a recent German study which found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in no less than 82% of the sites they sampled.* The outfalls are ideal breeding grounds because they are warm, shady and supply endless nutrients in the form of your dead skin and your organic products. Yeech! The cause seems to be that manufacturers are pouring antibacterial agents into soaps and cleaning products, so giving a carte blanche to all those nasty little organisms in the pipes to develop their resistant ways.
Why does all this worry us? Because as they breed, super-resistant bacteria and their genes will get into the food chain and start to spread. According to John Naish in the Mail,* two new genes called MCR-1 and NDN-1 ,which confer the ability to resist the strongest antibiotics available, are now spreading rapidly. They can spread between different types of bacteria. They are potentially lethal.
The death toll from antibiotic resistant infections is now rising at 10% a year. last year in the USA there were 35000 such deaths. There were 800 000 world wide. By 2050 there will probably be 10 million a year. We will be back to the days when even a sore throat could kill you, depending of course on things like your age and other health factors.
We post your links below, and also one to that excellent charity antibiotic research uk, who are trying to contend with this terrible problem. Before modern medicine as we know it literally goes down the drain
#antibioticresistance #antibioticresearchuk #superbugs
Learning, Science and Society 