Antibiotic resistance threatening post-surgery recovery

The bill prohibits using antibiotics exclusively for purposes of gaining weight or improving feed efficiency.

In the USA, agriculture accounts for nearly 80 per cent of all antibiotic use, and most of the drugs used on farm animals are also used to treat humans.

It has been pegged that 39% of post-caesarean sections, 51% post pacemaker implants, and between 50 to 90% of post transrectal prostate biopsy are likelier to cause infections, incurable by recommended antibiotics.

Ron Phillips, the vice president of Legislative and Public Affairs for the Animal Health Institute (AHI), which represents companies that make medicines for animals, including livestock, says his organization took a “neutral position” on the bill, believing it “balances concerns about antibiotic resistance with producers’ need for access to antibiotics to keep animals healthy”.

The researchers write that up to half of infections after surgery in the USA and over a quarter of infections after chemotherapy are caused by organisms already resistant to standard prophylactic antibiotics.

Researchers with the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) came to these conclusions by reviewing meta-analyses from 43 years of trials.

Prophylactic antibiotics are given as standard practice to patients undergoing surgery and cancer treatment to prevent infection and death.

Also, the “superbug” MRSA was in the headlines this week after causing a serious infection in the ankle of New York Giants tight end Daniel Fells, prompting speculation the National Football League player might need a foot amputation.

“A lot of common surgical procedures and cancer chemotherapy will be virtually impossible if antibiotic resistance is not tackled urgently”, said Laxminarayan.

The threat is on the rise, so researchers have conducted a study to explain antibiotic resistance and its post-op risk that might eventually cause the number of infections and infection-related deaths to skyrocket.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 2 million people a year become infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 die from these infections.

They examined the efficacy of using antibiotics as a preventive measure against infections following the most common surgical procedures and blood cancer chemotherapy in the United States.

She calls the new law “a huge step toward preserving medically important antibiotics in the US and setting up restrictions on the use of these drugs”.

“The main problem is patients did not think that they used too many or that their antibiotic use was unnecessary, in fact, they typically thought other people were the main issue”.

In a linked Comment, Dr. Joshua Wolf, from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, foresees a future where patients who need surgery or chemotherapy can no longer be protected from life-threatening infections by antibiotic prophylaxis.

Jerry Brown for signing legislation over the weekend that restricts the use of antibiotics in meat production, making the state the nation’s strictest on the matter.