हामी मासु खान्छौँ की एन्टीबायोटिक?

एन्टिबायोटिक दुरुपयोगले  जनस्वास्थ्यमा पार्ने प्रभाव र दुष्प्रभाव न्युनिकरणका उपाय


डा. केदार कार्की   

एन्टीवायोटिकको निष्प्रभावकारीताको खतरा अनी चुनौतीः

एक्काइसौं शताब्दीको प्रवेशसँगै चिकित्सा विज्ञानले जनस्वास्थ्य क्षेत्र विरामी उपचार गर्दै व्यहोर्न परेको चुनौती भनेको विरामीको उपचारमा प्रयोग गरिने चनल चल्ती तथा उत्तराआधुनिक एन्टीवायोटिक उपचार निष्प्रभावी हुनु मानिन्छ । यसो हुनुको मुख्य कारणा पशुपंक्षीमा अनियन्त्रितरुपमा हुने गरेको एन्टीवायोटिकको प्रयोगले ती पशुबाट उत्पादित पशुजन्य उत्पादनमा हुन जाने तीनको अवशेषको उपयोगको परिणतीको रुपमा लिइएको छ ।

Antibiotic abuse: How we are losing the most potent arsenal of modern medicine

DR SANTOSH DAHAL

(First published in Republica Daily on Dec 23, 2014)

Antibiotics are one of the marvels of medical science. Commercial availability of antibiotics in 1940s put an end to relentless suffering of mankind from bacterial infections.

Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of antibiotics, had made the following cautionary statements on June 26, 1945, in The New York Times, “The microbes are educated to resist penicillin and a host of penicillin-fast organisms is bred out. In such cases the thoughtless person playing with penicillin is morally responsible for the death of the man who finally succumbs to infection with the penicillin-resistant organism. I hope this evil can be averted.” But the evil is still being perpetrated after all these years. Deaths out of infections resistant to all available antibiotics are increasingly being reported these days. 

Our whole environment is permeated with bacteria and other microbes. Within minutes to hours of coming into this world a baby is covered by millions of bacteria. Thankfully, except for a few, bacteria are harmless or rather helpful in some contexts. When infection occurs, only one or two types of the pathogenic bacteria are responsible. The standard practice in treating these infections is to ascertain the bacterial infection, prescribe a supposedly effective antibiotic and at the same time investigate for exact bacterial etiology and antibiotic sensitivity. But often in common practice, antibiotics are used without confirming the bacterial infection and without the guidance of antibiotic susceptibility reports. 

Losing the war: How Kathmandu can give rise to dreadful superbugs

 Brian Beard

(First published on The Kathmandu Post on 14th December.)

DEC 13 - An invisible war is going on all around between bacteria and antibiotics, and bacteria are starting to win. Bacteria are tiny living organisms that are in every place you can imagine—on your skin, in your food, in the air, and in the water. Antibiotics are substances that kill bacteria and are produced by other bacteria or certain types of fungus. Dr Alexander Fleming uncovered this invisible war almost 90 years ago and from his work came one of the most important scientific discoveries in history—the first antibiotic, penicillin.

Since the discovery of penicillin, many more antibiotics have been found. The use of antibiotics to treat patients with bacterial infections, which are illnesses caused by disease-causing bacteria, have changed modern medicine. No doubt, some people reading this article are alive today because antibiotics saved them from a life-threatening bacterial infection. It seemed as if sickness and death from bacterial infections were a thing of the past, or were they? Ever so quietly, bacteria have started to fight back, and now after a decades-long battle ‘stronger’ bacteria are launching a deadly counterattack.

Fighting back

Doctors began to notice that sometimes antibiotics did not work, and what were formerly easily treatable bacterial infections were killing patients. As some scientists had long suspected, bacteria had developed the ability to defend themselves against antibiotics and this ability could be passed onto other bacteria. These types of bacteria are now known as multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also commonly called ‘superbugs’.