Diseases and Plagues

TnWatchdog

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Antibiotic-Resistant Disease Crisis May Bring 'Apocalyptic Scenario,' UK Health Officer Says

Posted: 01/25/2013 1:51 pm EST | Updated: 01/25/2013 1:51 pm EST

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Video, Antibiotic Resistance, Antibiotic Resistant Disease, Antibiotics, Contagious Diseases, Diseases, Staphylococcus Aureus, Superbug, Uk Chief Medical Officer, Science News

By: Marc Lallanilla, Life's Little Mysteries Assistant Editor
Published: 01/25/2013 11:24 AM EST on LiveScience
A prominent British health official has declared the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs so grave a threat that the world is now facing an "apocalyptic scenario" in which people die of routine infections.
Dame Sally Davies, the U.K.'s chief medical officer (a role equivalent to the U.S. surgeon general), warned Parliament that contagious antibiotic-resistant disease is an imminent crisis and should be included on the government's official register of possible national emergencies, right next to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, according to the Guardian.
Superbugs are disease-causing bacteria that have evolved to have defenses against antibiotic drugs. Over the years, some strains of bacteria have become so robust they resist almost every weapon in our drug armamentarium.
"There are few public health issues of potentially greater importance for society than antibiotic resistance," Davies told the Guardian. And she pulled no punches when speaking to Parliament: "We need to get our act together in this country," the Guardian quoted her as saying.
Davies is hardly the first to sound the alarm on the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections. "It certainly would — and has — resulted in a much greater risk of dying of infection," Dr. Brad Spellberg, assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, told LiveScience. [5 Ways Computers Boost Drug Discovery]
"We already are seeing infections that are untreatable," Spellberg said. Besides the rising threats of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis and gonorrhea, he cited three bacterial infections of particular concern: Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia.
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Staphylococcus aureus is just one of many antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" that have health officials alarmed.
Each of these bacteria can cause a number of infectious diseases, including pneumonia, septicemia and urinary tract infections. In the case of Klebsiella, Spellberg noted, there's just one highly toxic drug left, and it's effective only about half the time it's used.
It's equally alarming that antibiotic drug development is at a virtual standstill, he said. "The pipeline is barren," partly because pharmaceutical companies have few incentives for developing antibiotics that people take for just a few days or weeks, Spellberg said.
Instead, drugmakers focus on research into drugs that are taken for years to treat chronic conditions like arthritis or heart disease. Davies told Parliament, "There is a broken market model for making new antibiotics."
While Spellberg is careful to add some perspective to the issue – "I don't think we should be alarmist" – he emphasizes that a "massive crisis" is looming if we leave unaddressed the continued rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs, since it could result in a "catastrophic drop in quality of life."
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


  • Bubonic Plague

    Yes, the black plague -- responsible for <a href="The Vast Influence of the Wee Microbe | People & Places | Smithsonian Magazine" target="_hplink">killing 56 million people in Europe the 14th century</a> -- is still around, but it isn't as deadly or prevalent as it was in Medieval times. Dr. Robert Gaynes, an infectious disease expert at Emory University and author of the book <a href="" target="_hplink">Germ Theory: Medical Pioneers in Infectious Diseases</a>, said that people contract the disease when they gain access to previously undistrubed ecosystems, thereby making "these types of diseases become evident as a result of animal contact." These days, the disease is most commonly spread by bites from fleas that are infected with Yersinia pestis. When the bacteria enters into a person's skin, it leads to headache, chills, and <a href="CDC | Facts About Plague" target="_hplink">swollen lymph glands</a>, according to the CDC. Early <a href="CDC | Facts About Plague" target="_hplink">treatment with antibiotics</a> is essential for survival, as the disease can cause respiratory failure and shock if left untreated. Every year, about 1,000 to 3,000 <a href="First Case of Bubonic Plague in 2011 Appears in New Mexico | TIME.com" target="_hplink">bubonic plague cases</a> occur around the world, with 10 to 20 of those cases in the United States, <em>TIME</em> reported. The first 2011 case of bubonic plague was confirmed in May in a New Mexico man. The reason is murky for why black plague seems to be less deadly today than in the Medieval times, Weinberg said, but it probably has to do with more rats and unclean living conditions back then, as well as a lack of appropriate medicines. In addition, the bacteria back then may be different from the current form, he added.
  • Scarlet Fever

    <a href="Scarlet Fever Symptoms, History, Treatment, Pictures, Signs, Diagnosis and Causes by MedicineNet.com" target="_hplink">Scarlet fever</a> was among the rash of diseases that commonly afflicted people in the 19th century (alongside yellow fever, rubella and measles), according to MedicineNet. Scarlet fever most often afflicts children, causing rash and fever. Fortunately, scarlet fever is a lot less common today than it was centuries ago, but it still can be deadly. Today, we now know that scarlet fever is just a form of group A streptococcus (strep), Weinberg said. But instead of just turning into a regular case of strep throat, scarlet fever manifests as a red skin rash. With antibiotics, the disease is easily treated, though complications can occur that <a href="Scarlet Fever Symptoms, History, Treatment, Pictures, Signs, Diagnosis and Causes by MedicineNet.com" target="_hplink">can lead to sepsis</a> (bacteria in the blood, tissue or bone), according to MedicineNet. Just this summer, Reuters reported that a Hong Kong kindergarten was closed after tests revealed that a child there may have <a href="
    Scarlet fever kills second child in Hong Kong, epidemic to peak| Reuters
    " target="_hplink">died from scarlet fever</a>. Scarlet fever is relatively common in that part of the world, but this year a Hong Kong health department spokesman told Reuters that there seem to be more cases of it this year than in past years.
  • Whooping Cough

    <a href="Whooping cough vaccine&#039;s durability questioned - SFGate" target="_hplink">Whooping cough</a>, caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria, was a common illness among children in the early 1900s, according to HealthCentral. However, when the vaccine for whooping cough was introduced in the 1940s, cases dropped. But while whooping cough cases are still dramatically lower than 50 years ago, there are still cases that persist today possibly because the vaccine against the disease doesn't provide lasting protection later in life, Weinberg said. Another reason is that older people seem to be able to carry whooping cough in their throats without actually getting sick (due to being vaccinated at a younger age), but that whooping cough is then passed on to infants who haven't yet been vaccinated against the disease, Gaynes said. "This problem has led to a recent recommendation by [the] CDC to have adults get TDAP once as adults (it contains pertussis in the vaccine) and not just a tetanus booster, which is needed every ten years," Gaynes told HuffPost. Recent research presented just last month shows that the <a href="Whooping cough vaccine&#039;s durability questioned - SFGate" target="_hplink">protection from the whooping cough vaccine</a> is decreased dramatically once a child reaches age 8 or 9, the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em> reported. <a href="CDC Features - Pertussis (Whooping Cough) &ndash; What You Need To Know" target="_hplink">Whooping cough is very contagious</a> -- spread by cough and sneezing -- and is so named because of the sound people who have it make when they cough. Last year, 27,550 people had whooping cough in the United States, according to the CDC. The disease is the deadliest for babies, as it can lead to pneumonia, convulsions and even death.
  • Polio

    Polio, the paralysis-causing disease that afflicted former president Franklin D. Roosevelt, isn't completely gone from the world today. However, it has been eliminated from the western world, Weinberg said. The Mayo Clinic reports that the last known <a href="Polio - MayoClinic.com" target="_hplink">case of polio in the U.S.</a> was in 1979. Polio is still present in <a href="WHO | Poliomyelitis" target="_hplink">Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria</a>, where unrest and dangerous conditions can make it more difficult to get everyone vaccinated against the disease, according to the World Health Organization. Recently, the WHO reported that a dangerous strain of polio -- called wild poliovirus type 1 -- had <a href="Polio Strain Spreads To China From Pakistan, WHO Says" target="_hplink">made its way from Pakistan to China</a>. Polio<a href="Polio - MayoClinic.com" target="_hplink"> causes paralysis</a> and can make it hard to breathe, the Mayo Clinic reported. It can even lead to death.
  • Gout

    Gout has been known throughout history as the "<a href="1700s food" target="_hplink">disease of kings</a>" and the "rich man's disease," as it was most commonly seem among the gluttonous rich in the 1700 and 1800s, according to the British Library. Gout is considered an ancient form of <a href="CDC - Arthritis - Basics - Definition - Gout" target="_hplink">inflammatory arthritis</a>, and is caused by metabolic disorder that has not been properly controlled. It occurs when uric acid crystals build up in tissues and fluids, thereby leading to a red, swollen joint that is very painful, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition is most common in overweight men and women who have gone through menopause. Gout rates have <a href="Gout Cases on the Rise in U.S." target="_hplink">been on the rise</a> since the 1960s, with cases doubling between 1960 and 1990 and then continuing to rise through 2008, according to WebMD. More than 8 million Americans currently have gout. WebMD reported that the <a href="Gout Cases on the Rise in U.S." target="_hplink">rise in gout cases</a> may be due to people living longer, as the condition is seen in women only after they have passed menopause. In addition, "you can go years with hyperuricemia and no symptoms. But at some point, enough uric acid accumulates to have a flare-up of gout, so if you're living longer you are more likely to reach that threshold," gout expert Dr. John S. Sundy told WebMD. In addition, Gaynes speculated that it may not even be that gout rates are actually rising -- rather, detection and diagnosis may have improved throughout the years. Link to article
  • Official: Antibiotic Apocalypse Looms
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
When you think of it we are connected to each other like the grid. We go to work, shop, travel, etc so diseases could become plagues like the flick, "The Stand". We take antibiotics for just about everything and when we really need them...they won't work. I get tired of governments playing around with diseases and vaccines for cures as they contribute to some of the outbreaks. What are your thoughts on this? Did you get your flu shot? I forgot to get mine.
 

Loopi

The Bearded One
Messages
909
We need Genocide to happen, look at the Earth these days. Everything is overfarmed, and overpopulated. We don't have "population control" maybe this is how it gets introduced... I didn't get mine either. Luckily I haven't been sick in over 3 years. Whatever happens I just want it to happen soon.
 

Octavusprime

Member
Messages
461
It's strange that so many wish for "the end". I have this yearning myself. Glorified by the simpler life, I'm sure the reality would be much harsher.

Of all the end of world scenarios, uncontrollable disease outbreak is the least appealing for me.
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
It's strange that so many wish for "the end". I have this yearning myself. Glorified by the simpler life, I'm sure the reality would be much harsher.

Of all the end of world scenarios, uncontrollable disease outbreak is the least appealing for me.
I agree, as I have a bad cold now and feel like shit... it would be hard to go out this way. I think an uncontrollable plague could be a reality for the future we face.
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
I can see it coming...oh my the bird just flew the coop...
Bird Flu Research To Resume After Controversy, Moratorium

By LAURAN NEERGAARD 01/23/13 02:42 PM ET EST
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Avian influenza H5N1 virus particle magnified 150,000 times.
WASHINGTON -- International scientists who last year halted controversial research with the deadly bird flu say they are resuming their work as countries adopt new rules to ensure safety.
The outcry erupted when two labs – in the Netherlands and the U.S. – reported they had created easier-to-spread versions of bird flu. Amid fierce debate about the oversight of such research and whether it might aid terrorists, those scientists voluntarily halted further work last January – and more than three dozen of the world's leading flu researchers signed on as well.
On Wednesday, those scientists announced they were ending their moratorium because their pause in study worked: It gave the U.S. government and other world health authorities time to determine how they would oversee high-stakes research involving dangerous germs.
A number of countries already have issued new rules. The U.S. is finalizing its own research guidelines, a process that Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said should be completed within several weeks.
In letters published in the journals Science and Nature this week, scientists wrote that those who meet their country's requirements have a responsibility to resume studying how the deadly bird flu might mutate to become a bigger threat to people – maybe even the next pandemic. So far, the so-called H5N1 virus mostly spreads among poultry and other birds and rarely infects people.
"The risk exists in nature already. Not doing the research is really putting us in danger," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and Ron Fouchier of Erasmus University in the Netherlands separately created the new virus strains that could spread through the air.
The controversy flared just over a year ago, when U.S. officials, prompted by the concerns of a biosecurity advisory panel, asked the two labs not to publish the results. They worried that terrorists might use the information to create a bioweapon. More broadly, scientists debated whether creating new strains of disease is a good idea, and if so, how to safeguard against laboratory accidents.
Ultimately, the flu researchers prevailed: The government decided the data didn't pose any immediate terrorism threat after all, and the two labs' work was published last summer.
Fouchier said that within weeks, he will begin new research in the Netherlands, with European funding, to explore exactly which mutations are the biggest threat. He said the work could enable scientists today to be on the lookout as bird flu continually evolves in the wild.
U.S.-funded scientists cannot resume their studies until the government's policy is finalized.
But the NIH had paid for the original research – and it would have been approved under the soon-to-come expanded policy as well, Fauci told The Associated Press. That policy will add an extra layer of review to higher-risk research, to ensure that it is scientifically worth doing and that safety and bioterrorism concerns are fully addressed up-front, he said.
Had that policy been in place over a year ago, it could have averted the bird flu debate, Fauci said: "Our answer simply would have been, yes, we vetted it very carefully and the benefit is worth any risk. Period, case closed."
 

BlastTyrant

Senior Member
Messages
2,585
I live by the Natural Rule of being a computer nerd i dont go out and be around people anyway so i don't need to worry about it till it comes to me lol
 

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