End of Antibiotics Grows Near As
Drug-Resistant Gene with Epidemic Potential Is Found in Animals, Meats,
and Humans
December 02, 2015
Story at-a-glance
−
Researchers recently discovered a new gene, called
mcr-1, in pigs and people in China — a gene mutation
that makes bacteria resistant to our last-resort
class of antibiotics
The drug resistance caused by this gene has the
potential to create a global epidemic of infections
resistant to ALL available antibiotics, as the rate
of transfer of resistance between bacteria is
exceptionally high
The researchers call for urgent restrictions on the
use of polymyxins, including colistin, which is
widely used in livestock farming
By Dr. Mercola
According to Margaret Chan,1
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO),
antibiotic resistance is now a global health crisis. In a
recent telebriefing she said the problem is "reaching
dangerously high levels" in all parts of the world and may lead
to "the end of modern medicine as we know it."
Already, multi-drug-resistant typhoid, tuberculosis, and
gonorrhea kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. And it
looks like it's only going to get worse, until or unless
dramatic and rapid changes in policy and public awareness about
antibiotics occur.
Scientists have been warning about this for a number of years
already, but now it seems the "antibiotic apocalypse" is really
close at hand.
Researchers recently discovered a new gene, called mcr-1, in
pigs and people in China2,3,4
— a gene mutation that makes bacteria resistant to our
last-resort class of antibiotics. Moreover, the resistance has
"epidemic potential," as the rate of transfer between bacteria
is exceptionally high.
Polymoxin-Resistant Bacteria May Kill Tens of Millions in Coming
Years
Between 2011 and 2014, the researchers, led by Hua Liu from
the South China Agricultural University, collected bacteria
samples from:
Pork and chicken sold at open markets and grocery stores
in four Chinese provinces
Pigs at slaughter across four Chinese provinces
1,322 patients being treated for infections at two
Chinese hospitals
Fifteen percent of raw meats and about 20 percent of
slaughtered animals had the mcr-1 gene, and the number of
positive samples increased with each passing year. Disturbingly,
mcr-1 was also found in 16 patients being treated for
infections.
"Researchers ... found the gene, called mcr-1, on
plasmids — mobile DNA that can be easily copied and
transferred between different bacteria. This suggests
'an alarming potential' for it to spread and
diversify between bacterial populations, they said.
The team already has evidence of the gene being
transferred between common bacteria such as E.coli ... and
Klesbsiella pneumoniae ...
This suggests 'the progression from extensive
drug resistance to pan drug resistance6
[i.e. bacteria resistant to all treatment] is inevitable,' they said. '(And)
although currently confined to China, mcr-1 is likely to
emulate other resistance genes ... and spread worldwide.'"
Livestock Farmers Must End Use of Antibiotics — and Fast!
The researchers describe their findings7
as "alarming," calling for "urgent restrictions" on the use of
polymyxins, including colistin, which is widely used in
livestock farming despite being a drug of last resort against a
host of bacterial infections that are common in humans.
China alone uses 12,000 tons of colistin in animal farming
each year. The US uses 800 tons annually, and another 400 tons
is used in Europe. The mcr-1 gene essentially prevents colistin
and other drugs of this class from killing the gene-carrying
bacteria.
According to David Paterson and Patrick Harris from
Australia's University of Queensland, who wrote a commentary to
the study, the links between colistin use in livestock farming
and colistin-resistance in animals, food, and humans is now
complete, and warn that:8
"One of the few solutions to uncoupling these
connections is limitation or cessation of colistin use in
agriculture. Failure to do so will create a public health
problem of major dimensions."
Professor Timothy Walsh of the University of Cardiff, who
co-authored the study, drove home the severity of the situation
in a statement to the BBC:
9
"All the key players are now in place to make the
post-antibiotic world a reality.
If MCR-1 becomes global, which is a case of when not
if, and the gene aligns itself with other antibiotic
resistance genes, which is inevitable, then we will have
very likely reached the start of the post-antibiotic era.
At that point if a patient is seriously ill, say with E.
coli, then there is virtually nothing you can do."
Antibiotic-resistant infections already kill an estimated
23,000 Americans each year, and projections10
suggest that by 2050, drug-resistant infections will claim the
lives of:
317,000 in North America
392,000 in South America
390,000 in Europe
4.73 million in Asia
4,15 million in Africa
American Academy of Pediatrics Warn Antibiotics in Food Threaten
Children's Health
The American Academy of Pediatrics also recently issued a
paper11
detailing how antibiotics are used in animal husbandry, how this
contributes to the development of drug-resistant bacteria, and
how national and global initiatives to curb the use of
antibiotics in agriculture are needed to protect children's
health.
"Infants and children are affected by
antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the food supply, direct
contact with animals, and exposure in the environment, the
researchers report.
For most infections, incidence was highest among
children under age five, according to data the researchers
cited from Center for Disease Control and Prevention's
Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network ...
Pediatricians and parents can help combat antibiotic
resistance by avoiding use of antibiotics to treat colds or
other viral illnesses. Parents and other consumers may also
help discourage the use of antibiotics in livestock feed by
choosing to buy only organic products or foods labeled as
'raised without antibiotics,' said Urvashi Rangan, executive
director of the Consumer Reports Food Safety and
Sustainability Center ..."
Public Is Grossly Undereducated on Proper Use of Antibiotics
According to a new report by the Wellcome Trust,13,14
medical personnel, government, and the media have failed to
teach the public about proper antibiotic use, and that also
needs to be remedied. According to the report — for which 10,000
people in 12 countries were queried about their knowledge about
antibiotics — people are "alarmingly confused" and ignorant on
this issue:
64 percent of people wrongly believe that antibiotics
treat viral infections such as colds and flu, despite the
fact such medicines can only treat bacterial
infections, not viruses
75 percent of people wrongly believe "antibiotic
resistance" means that your body is resistant to the drug,
opposed to the bacteria being resistant
About one-third of people wrongly believe you should
stop taking the antibiotic once you feel better to avoid
building "immunity" to the drug, rather than completing the
prescribed treatment course
About 66 percent wrongly believe you're not at risk of
drug-resistant infection as long as you take your
antibiotics as prescribed
Nearly half wrongly believe drug-resistant infections
only affect people who frequently use antibiotics, when in
fact antibiotic-resistant infections can occur in anyone,
anywhere, and at any time
According to Keiji Fukuda, WHO's special representative for
antimicrobial resistance:15"The
findings ... point to the urgent need to improve understanding
around antibiotic resistance. One of the biggest health
challenges of the 21st century will require global behavior
change by individuals and societies."
Important Facts About Antibiotics and Their Use
To recap, it's important to realize that:
Antibiotics can ONLY treat bacterial infections, not
viral infections such as cold and flu
Unless the disease-causing bacteria are completely wiped
out, the infection may recur, so it's important to finish
the entire course as prescribed
Antibiotics should be reserved for SEVERE bacterial
infections only. Please understand that they can damage your
microbiome for up to a year or even longer (see next
section) so you want to make darn sure you are going to get
more benefit that harm. Only take antibiotics if they are
the last resort
Your food can be a major source of low-dose antibiotics
if you're eating meats and animal products originating in
concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). You can
avoid a majority of this risk by buying organically raised
animal foods, as USDA organic standards do not permit
antibiotics for growth promotion and prophylactic purposes
One in 25 hospital patients end up contracting a
hospital-acquired infection, some of which are
drug-resistant, so avoid unnecessary hospital stays. In
2011, an estimated 722,000 patients contracted an infection
during a stay in an acute care hospital in the US, and about
75,000 of them died as a result of it. As drug-resistant
infections become more common, this number is likely to
skyrocket in coming years
A Course of Antibiotics Can Alter Your Gut Microbiome for Up to
One Year
It's also important to realize the impact antibiotics have on
your overall health, as they kill not just the disease-causing
bacteria but the beneficial bacteria too. Recent research
demonstrates that when you take a course of antibiotics, your
gut microbiome may be adversely affected for up to a year
afterwards, depending on the antibiotic you're taking.
This is a significant reason for limiting antibiotics to
severe infections only, as a
healthy gut microbiome is part of your immune function,
serving as a primary defense against all disease.
The randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial,16
which took place in two locations, Sweden and Great Britain,
evaluated the effects of four commonly-prescribed antibiotics:
clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, minocycline, and amoxicillin. The
bacteria in the participants' oral and gut microbiomes were
analyzed before the experiment, right after finishing the
one-week long course of antibiotics, and again one, two, four,
and 12 months afterward.
The oral microbiome normalized fairly quickly, but the gut
microbiome typically did not. As reported by The Atlantic:17
"People who took clindamycin and ciprofloxacin saw a
decrease in types of bacteria that produce butyrate, a fatty
acid that lowers oxidative stress and inflammation in the
intestines. The reduced microbiome diversity for
clindamycin-takers lasted up to four months; for some who
took ciprofloxacin, it was still going on at the 12-month
check-up. Amoxicillin, on the plus side, seemed to have no
significant effect on either the oral or gut microbiome, and
minocycline-takers were back to normal at the one-month
check-up."
But that's not all. The study also demonstrated that when you
take an antibiotic, you may indeed raise your risk of
antibiotic-resistant disease.
Antibiotic-resistance genes were found in both British and
Swedish participants at the outset of the study, although the
British had on average a 1.13-times-higher load of antibiotic
resistance genes than the Swedes. (The authors speculate that
this may be a result of the fact that Sweden has significantly
decreased use of antibiotics over the past 20 years, due to the
Swedish Strategic Program for the Rational Use of Antimicrobial
Agents and Surveillance of Resistance [STRAMA], launched in
1994.)
After exposure to antibiotics, the antibiotic resistance gene
load increased across the board. According to the authors:
"Among the antibiotics tested, exposure to
amoxicillin resulted in the least discernible effects on the
microbiome composition, while these samples had the highest
number with antibiotic resistance-associated genes and the
most classes that were increased in the predicted
metagenomes and in the full metagenomes, respectively, a
week after the exposure ...
Clearly, even a single antibiotic treatment in healthy
individuals contributes to the risk of resistance
development and leads to long-lasting detrimental shifts in
the gut microbiome."
What's the Solution?
I'm afraid I have no good news with which to brighten the
picture for you. We really are at a critical junction, and we
have to get serious about this issue. Tens of millions of people
are likely going to die in the coming decades as a result of
widespread antibiotic abuses. The presence of mcr-1 may further
speed up the prevalence of bacteria impervious to every single
antibiotic currently available
Unfortunately, as revealed by Dr. Marcia Angell — former
editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine— in her
book, "The Truth About the Drug Companies",18
the pharmaceutical industry wields enormous power over the US
government, and pharmaceutical companies have been less than
enthusiastic about spending money on antibiotic research and
restricting the use of antibiotics in agriculture.
After all, agriculture accounts for 80 percent of their
antibiotic sales. So we cannot depend on them for a solution.
There are no quick and easy answers here. The impending superbug
crisis needs to be addressed from a number of different angles,
including the following:
Elimination of antibiotics for growth promotion and
prophylactic purposes in livestock and fish production. As
with people, animals should be given antibiotics only when
ill, and not for prophylactic purposes to "hide" poor
hygiene and living conditions in CAFOs.
To make your voice heard, please sign the
Organic Consumer's Association's petition, calling for a
mandatory ban on sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics for
livestock. The issue of antibiotic-resistance is a major
reason for choosing organic, pastured meats and other animal
products, including eggs and dairy. It is in fact the only
animal products I recommend eating
Improved infection prevention, with a focus on
strengthening your immune system naturally. As an all-around
preventive measure, you'll want to make sure your
vitamin D level is optimized year-round, especially
during pregnancy, along with
vitamin K2
More responsible use of antibiotics in medicine. Use
antibiotics only when absolutely necessary
Also avoid antibacterial household products
Innovative new approaches to the treatment of infections
from all branches of science, natural as well as allopathic