
World's rivers 'awash with dangerous levels of antibiotics' - punnerud
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/27/worlds-rivers-awash-with-dangerous-levels-of-antibiotics
======
Arbalest
Antibiotic resistance is the medical equivalent of Climate Change. It hasn't
gotten anywhere as much exposure as climate change though, and even with the
amount climate change has gotten, it still isn't seeing enough action.

I just wish I could be more optimistic about the whole situation, but decades
of advertising in cleanliness conflating clean with germ free is coming back
to bite us. Both from antibacterial agents for infections, and more generally
for surface cleaners.

~~~
alkonaut
1\. Don't buy meat from anywhere where Antibiotics is used in healthy animals.

2\. Vote to ban the practice.

There is no step 3.

~~~
_iyig
3\. Lobby for an effective ban in countries like China, where antibiotics are
widely used (especially in aquaculture) and the law as written isn’t always
enforced.

This is one of those border-hopping problems which, like CFC emissions, may
require external pressure for some countries to address.

~~~
lucideer
While I'm not suggesting _not_ lobbying for an effective ban in China, this
comment seems to make China out to be almost a sole offender. Antibiotics are
widely used in _most_ countries, particularly in the US, and even in Europe
(despite the EU ban on usage for growth purposes). Their usage is increasing
at scary rates in China, Brazil, etc., but that doesn't discount that it's
still very high in western nations.

~~~
alkonaut
Agreed. This has improved recently in the EU: the EU law was given
significantly more teeth less than a year ago (should be in force within 2
years now). Let's hope the EU will actually enforce it. The new law also bans
imports to the EU, so if it's followed it's almost exactly what I'm asking for
(ban of routine use + import ban).
[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/25/european-
par...](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/25/european-parliament-
approves-curbs-on-use-of-antibiotics-on-farm-animals) (Law voted through 2018,
with 3 years introduction. Hopefully use will decline before that to comply
before it becomes law)

This needs to happen in the US as well. China is a big exporter so even if
there is no domestic pressure, import bans should make a difference.

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jedberg
See here is my conundrum. I have some antibiotics that my son didn't use. I
need to dispose of it. The CDC actually suggests flushing it down the toilet,
because it's better in the water supply than being accidentally ingested. This
feels wrong to me, but the CDC says to do it...

~~~
BlackFly
You shouldn't be in that situation. Antibiotics are not supposed to be
discretionary medicine that you take until you feel better. Your son should
have finished the prescription. Stopping antibiotics prematurely is one of the
ways that antibiotic resistant bacteria develop.

~~~
jazoom
Source: I prescribe antibiotics

This situation is legitimate.

Example: I prescribe you 5 days of trimethoprim for a urinary tract infection.
It's 1 tablet per day. It comes in a box of 7. You can do the maths.

Edit: and as others have suggested, if patients ask me what to do with extra
meds of any kind I suggest they take them to the pharmacy.

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RappingBoomer
I am suspicious of hype/scare articles like this one...smells too much like
manufacturing consent for more laws to restrict the ability of americans to go
around the laws enacted by the healthcare cartel via congress...all in order
to increase wall st profits...

yes, I am aware of the dangers of antibiotics no longer being effective
because of overuse etc...but I don't know how much of that is media propaganda
being paid for by some medical cartel...most everything in america/the West is
shaped by and influenced by corporate propaganda put out by the media...this
article and similar articles smell like media propaganda that is designed to
scare people and manufacture consent for yet more laws from congress to
control the ability of the people to go out and buy some drugs to help them
live longer...

I don't trust the media because it is bought and paid for with corporate
advertising dollars...I don't trust the medical cartel because they increase
profits by restricting our freedom to buy medical care and buy drugs...the
medical cartel and media and congress effectively conspire to extort americans
for healthcare and drugs that help them live longer...that is how they get
rich and we get poorer...

I don't trust congress because they are bought and paid for by the
corporations and they dance to the tune of the corporate media...

I will say what nobody else on this thread dares to say--that this article is
quite possibly propaganda bought by the medical cartel...and that this article
is one of many such articles...

~~~
empath75
I have personally met someone who nearly died and is going to be in a wheel
chair for the rest of his life because he stepped on a lego and the wound was
infected by MRSA. The infection spread into his bones and blood supply before
they managed to stop it.

That’s the future that we’re headed for if we don’t get it under control — a
world where you can die from accidentally stepping on a toy.

~~~
RappingBoomer
and with anecdotes like that one, the corporations can lock down all
medications and supplements tighter than a drum...you carrying aspirin on you
without a prescription? That's a felony, mandatory life sentence...i am too
old to be fooled by these media hypestorms...seen it too many times...

~~~
defterGoose
Just consider this. Why would the drug companies have any interest in a law
that severely restricts what they can and can't sell to people?

