http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/opinion/a-new-attack-on-antibiotic-resistance.html?referrer=
Andrew Hebbeler is Assistant Director for Biological and Chemical Threats, Office of Science and Technology Policy at The White House.
Read about this new President Obama executive order, and we'll discuss science policy in the next few weeks. Hopefully Andy will be able to reschedule his Skype talk with the biology senior seminar and we'll be able to listen in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/health/us-lays-out-strategy-to-combat-crisis-of-antibiotic-resistance.html?ref=health
oooooo! How did I forget about this:
White House Issues New Regulations for Dangerous Biological Research - NYTimes.com
These guidelines were developed by the science policy group that our own alumnus, Dr. Andy Hebbeler, helped to develop!
This article is very interesting. It is good that they are at least doing something to combat the problem with antibiotic resistance, but it's also a shame that they aren't addressing the agriculture part. From my personal experience I have found that my doctor will dish out the antibiotics like candy, but they do seem to do the trick. I think the issue with antibiotic resistance is similar to problems people have with vaccinations. We don't acknowledge that there is a problem right now because we take antibiotics and they help us right now, but will they work in the future if we overuse them? The future is what is important. With vaccines we see a similar problem but in the opposite fashion. There is a problem that impacts us then a vaccine comes along and ends the problem. When people no longer see the impacts of a disease the fear is gone and people will find a reason to stop taking the vaccine. Thus, the disease will show up again and the fear returns. The point I am trying to make is that there is no fear with using antibiotics, so its a problem that will be danced around until it comes back to bite us. Hopefully we can get on top of this before it is too late.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Nicci, it seems like they are taking responsibility to help with antibiotic resistance because it seems like many people are having multiple issues with antibiotics and before it helps it harms which makes it tough to find a way to help the issue. If we become too dependent on antibiotics in the future out systems will begin to form an immunity to them, then what? We will be stuck at square one unless the research works and we find some other method to fight illness and the so called bioweapons that are supposedly going to be inadvertently formed.
DeleteReading articles like this is always eye-opening. This is a subject that you don't really think about until you read something about. Then you are just like how did i not think about this. This article is straight to the point and thats how it should be. Being prescribed antibiotics is almost assumed to be the result of going to the doctor before they appointment even happens. Sometimes the only reason that people go to the doctor when they feel under the weather is to get that prescription because more often than not they will feel batter as a result of it. Then how often do people actually finish the prescription? I know i have been guilty of stopping taking the antibiotics as soon as i feel better results in some of the bacteria surviving and developing some resistance. The problem is we don't think enough about the possible repercussions and are just worried about the present. We definitely have time to work on this issue but we need to begin acting sooner rather than later.
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