Many people think that reports of drug-resistant germs are a scare tactic by ultra-sensitive fanatics. The reality is that each year, more than 2 million people in the U.S. develop serious bacterial infections that are resistant to one of more types of antibiotics. At least 23,000 die from these infections according to a 2013 CDC report. Those are some staggering statistics that get worse every year.
Some of these “superbugs” you may not have heard of, and that is a good thing. However, you want to be educated about the potential for infection and know what they are. All of the “serious” or “urgent” ones are most likely contracted in the hospital by people who are on antibiotics and in a weakened state.
Another common hospital threats is C. difficile. It is also on the urgent list because it is starting to become antibiotic resistant and because it preys on the overuse of antibiotics. C. diff causes life-threatening diarrhea and spreads from person to person via contaminated equipment or hands. This bacteria continues to kill more people each year. One report says that there was 250,000 infections and 14,000 deaths from C. diff.
One that many people have heard of that is a serious threat is MRSA. It is very common for people to be infected with MRSA while in the hospital. As with many of these other bacteria, the more antibiotics that are used, the more resistant these become. Again, people who have wounds or invasive procedures are more at risk of developing this serious infection.
What can be done? On the research level, there needs to be new antibiotics developed. This rarely happens because the profit margins are low on antibiotics. On the institutional level, there needs to be more precautions taken in the hospital to prevent infection. Another help would be to only prescribe antibiotics when absolutely necessary.
There are a few precautions and common sense things that can help. First and foremost, limit the amount of antibiotics you take. There are certain things that antibiotics work on, and many things that they don’t. Too many times doctors prescribe antibiotics to appease a sick patient figuring that a dose of antibiotics won’t hurt them. The sad reality is that this is exactly how bacteria mutates and becomes resistant!