What are the best strategies to deal with the problem of multi-drug resistant bacteria?
Paul W. Ewald is an evolutionary biologist, specializing in the evolution of infectious disease. He asks the question: Can we domesticate germs?
Ewald reasons that, for the control of infectious diseases, alternative strategies should be privileged over the never-ending development of more new drugs. The central idea consists of creating conditions that favor the less virulent variants of pathogenic microbes — in contrast to the present rise in drug-resistant strains due to the overuse of anti-infective medicines.
Wolves were aggressive. Dogs were domesticated by humans. Could this strategy work for multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis for example? Could TB evolve toward mildness?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=176adlNeRy8
Which strategies will be most successful long term?
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8 Answers
Does keeping our levels of protein albumen at a certain level help?
Are you referring to the problems related to hypoalbuminemia?
Yes. I understand that they make one vulnerable to bacteria? But I guess that wouldn´t help people who have normal levels of albumen fight multi-drug resistant bacteria.
I saw a documentary about a prison in Russia. A lot of inmates are infected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Second-line drugs are often too expensive. The reason why so many caught it is indeed a weakened immune system. Alcoholism. Smoking. Unhealthy food. And so forth. Maybe some got hypoalbuminemia as well. The problem gets worse when they get released. Then it spreads to non-criminals as well. And it can travel around the world.
Quit running to the doctor for every cough, cold and bump. Let the body work out itself what it can.
I like the theory, it has a certain… beauty to it.
However, it would only work if the majority employed the same strategy, which I just can’t see happening.
@Val123 – Yes, for minor problems it’s not a good idea to ask for antibiotics. But if something is serious, it’s equally important that people take all the prescribed pills. Too often people think after the third day, hey, I’m feeling much better, no need to take the rest of the pills. This behavior creates a huge problem. While 95% of all bacteria in the body will have been killed by the pills, the remaining 5% are the toughest. No more pills means they can multiply and spread to other people, being just a little bit more resistant.
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