Aug 24, 2015 03:25 PM
http://www.futurity.org/antibiotics-fail-987152/
EXCERPT: [...] “We are not petri plates, and we need to revisit the way antibiotics are developed, tested, and prescribed,” says Professor Mahan. Current methods for testing resistance to antibiotics do not reflect the actual and varying environments in the body, where bacteria fight to survive. Mahan notes that this difference can render antibiotic susceptibility testing inaccurate.
“Prescription of the wrong antibiotic may not only fail to clear the infection but may create the perfect storm for the emergence of superbugs in infected patients,” he warns. “Even in our most advanced hospitals, high drug doses are given to infected patients without knowing that the body’s environment may render bacteria inherently resistant to the very antibiotics prescribed to control them.”
Try a different drug
Mahan’s research demonstrates two important points: Bacteria become resistant only to certain antibiotics, and they deploy this defense mechanism only in certain areas of the body. This means that when a patient fails to respond to a particular course of antibiotics that lab tests predict should be effective, rather than increasing the dose or duration of treatment, a potentially more effective therapeutic option is simply to prescribe another drug....
EXCERPT: [...] “We are not petri plates, and we need to revisit the way antibiotics are developed, tested, and prescribed,” says Professor Mahan. Current methods for testing resistance to antibiotics do not reflect the actual and varying environments in the body, where bacteria fight to survive. Mahan notes that this difference can render antibiotic susceptibility testing inaccurate.
“Prescription of the wrong antibiotic may not only fail to clear the infection but may create the perfect storm for the emergence of superbugs in infected patients,” he warns. “Even in our most advanced hospitals, high drug doses are given to infected patients without knowing that the body’s environment may render bacteria inherently resistant to the very antibiotics prescribed to control them.”
Try a different drug
Mahan’s research demonstrates two important points: Bacteria become resistant only to certain antibiotics, and they deploy this defense mechanism only in certain areas of the body. This means that when a patient fails to respond to a particular course of antibiotics that lab tests predict should be effective, rather than increasing the dose or duration of treatment, a potentially more effective therapeutic option is simply to prescribe another drug....