Single Dose of Antibiotic Found Effective in Quelling MRSA
This is a really big deal. The experts in epidemiology are terrified of MDROs (Multi-drug resistant Organisms) and the very real threat of a devastating global pandemic. Though such a disaster is perhaps inevitable we haven’t been developing new antibiotics because they don’t tend to be profitable for the drug companies. Quoting from the New York Times article:
“This is a bit of a light at the end of a dismal tunnel in the development of new antibiotics,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, who was not involved in the new study. In an editorial accompanying the research, Dr. Henry F. Chambers, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said the one-shot antibiotic infusion could transform the treatment of acute bacterial skin infections and alter how these infections are managed. “These patients could potentially just get an antibiotic and not be admitted to the hospital at all,” Dr. Chambers said in a telephone interview. “The big question is, how much money do the drug companies want in order to be able to do that?” he asked. “It won’t be chump change.”
This is all hopeful, though for most of us it is best seen as a reminder to maintain our own vigilance regarding the responsible use of current antibiotics: use only under the supervision of doctors, take the full course of the medicine; lobby to eradicate the irresponsible use in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) where approximately 80% of all antibiotics are used, allowing pathogens to develop adaptation and resistance.
How We Heal 