Category Archives: Antibiotics

Misunderstanding NARMS and Missing the Solution: How Not to Do Antibiotic-Related Advocacy

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

During the past month, the Environmental Working Group (‘EWG’) released a report (pdf) about 2011 Retail Meat Annual Report of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (‘NARMS’; pdf). In short, EWG mistated the problem, demonstrated some astonishing ignorance (or cynicism), … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics

Hospital Infection and Profit

Posted on March 28, 2013 by

No, this is not the name of a new microbiology journal. Instead, it is one reason why hospital-acquired infections (‘HAI’) in the U.S., compared to many other countries, have not decreased. According to a Clostridium difficile (‘C diff’) expert at … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, CDC, Public Health | 2 Comments

When Carbapenem Resistance Is Sneaky

Posted on March 27, 2013 by

Because what we really need are more ways to have carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae (‘CRE’), which are bacteria resistant to all penicillin derivatives–and almost always resistant to just about every other antibiotic. While the two ‘famous’ types of carbapenem resistance genes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, KPC, NDM-1, VIM

Why Medical Tourism Is a Really Dangerous Idea: The CRE Edition

Posted on December 27, 2012 by

I’m usually a big fan of economist Dean Baker. Since the mid-1990s, he has been debunking much of the Social Security and Medicare misinformation pumped out by conservative faith-tanks; he was also one of the few and first people to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Healthcare, KPC, NDM-1, Public Health | 4 Comments

Healthcare Is Not the Same As Healthcare Budgeting: The CREs Are Going to Kill Us All Edition

Posted on December 3, 2012 by

Every so often, I blog about CRE, which is short for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (E. coli and relatives). CREs are resistant to just about every antibiotic (the two drugs commonly used, colistin and tigecycline, cause renal failure or are used off-label … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, E. coli, Fucking Morons, Healthcare, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, KPC, NDM-1 | 4 Comments

Two Disturbing Carbapenem-Resistance Observations

Posted on October 23, 2012 by

I’ve discussed before the serious problem of carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (‘CRE’): these are common disease-causing bacteria that have evolved resistance to all penicillin derivatives, and usually are resistant to all other commonly used antibiotics* (and in some cases, every antibiotic). So … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Evolution, KPC, NDM-1, Public Health | 1 Comment

The Question I Would Have Asked At a Debate: The Hospital Infection/Antibiotic Resistance Edition

Posted on October 18, 2012 by

I know, a day late, a dollar short and all that. But still, when you consider that hospital-acquired infections kill ~100,000 people per year in the U.S., and that we are now seeing organisms, such as the carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, aka … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Public Health | 4 Comments

WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS! And Surfaces Too (Or How Class Bias Can Kill)

Posted on September 26, 2012 by

Maryn McKenna makes an excellent point about the importance of cleaning surfaces in hospitals and other healthcare facilities (boldface mine): Recently hospital cleanliness has become a matter of reputation, especially since the federal government’s Hospital Compare Web site started posting … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Healthcare | 6 Comments

Carbapenem Resistance Found in a House Cat

Posted on September 24, 2012 by

Usually, when I write about about antibiotic resistance, I end with a series of policy recommendations, but this time around, I’ll cut to the chase: we’re fucked. Hard. Sideways with a goddamn chainsaw. I’ll turn it over to Scary Disease … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, NDM-1, Public Health | 5 Comments

Let’s Not Forget: Antibiotics Are Prescription Drugs For a Good Reason

Posted on September 13, 2012 by

While the most serious problem associated with misuse of antibiotics is the evolution of bacterial resistance to those drugs, I’ve noted before that another problem with antibiotic misuse is that antibiotics can have serious side effects. Jane Brody describes how … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics | 4 Comments