Weighing in on antibiotic resistance

This editions forum topic:

'Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in both industrialized and developing nations alike. The Centers for Disease Control states, "Since the 1940s, these drugs have greatly reduced illness and death from infectious diseases. Antibiotic use has been beneficial and, when prescribed and taken correctly, their value in patient care is enormous. However, these drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective." 

Do you think the veterinary profession is adding to or preventing the growing problem of antibiotic resistance?'

 
Winner, Forum
Lauren Welker, University of Illinois

Laughter is not always the best medicine, sometimes antibiotics are. Antibiotics were a giant step for veterinary medicine. Antibiotic resistance is thought to be due to the increased use of antibiotics. If bacteria are exposed to the same type of antibiotic for too long, some may become resistant and the antibiotic will become ineffective in killing them.  If antibiotics are used with caution, the veterinary profession is not adding to the problem of antibiotic resistance. As a veterinarian, we take an oath to treat sick animals, relieve suffering, and do no harm.  Because of this oath, it is up to veterinarians to use judgment and determine if an animal can get well without antibiotics or if the antibiotics are essential to the health of the animal. While it is true that treating said animal could cause some resistant bacteria the risk for humans contracting these bacteria is minute if the meat from the infected animal is properly cooked before it is consumed. The true risk for humans lies within human medicine. If human physicians over-prescribe antibiotics and resistant bacteria are present in the human population, then the risk for other humans becomes greater. Bacteria will always adapt to the drugs used to treat them, the key is to be able to create new drugs to treat the adaptive bacteria fast enough to control and contain them. The adaptive process of bacteria can be slowed through only prescribing antibiotics when absolutely necessary, especially within human medicine.