Totally drug-resistant TB emerges in India • Hacker News Board

Re: Totally drug-resistant TB emerges in India

#41

Post by carbocation » Sat, Jan 14, 2012, 6:12 PM UTC

hartror wrote: post #38

marvin wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I'm a bit late to the party on this, but as a case in point, Norway has _very_ tight discipline on penicillin and antibiotics usage for this very reason. This has nothing to do with "medicines being outdated", it has to do with correct and disciplined usage of antibiotics. Norwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax.…

Norwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax. Treating a patient from Spain with the same penicillin which is used for Norwegian patients would not have any effect and kill the patient. This is _solely_ because poor discipline in drug usage leads to antibiotics-risistant bacteria. Wait what? The efficacy of an antibiotic is depende…

Dependent on the strain and its resistance profile. Staph aureus might be treated fine with some penicillins; or, it might have acquired methicillin resistance. Same staph aureus though, otherwise.

On the other hand, yes, pseudomonas infection is quite different from staph infection. But that's not what GP is referring to.

Re: Totally drug-resistant TB emerges in India

#42

Post by marvin » Sat, Jan 14, 2012, 9:02 PM UTC

hartror wrote: post #38

marvin wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I'm a bit late to the party on this, but as a case in point, Norway has _very_ tight discipline on penicillin and antibiotics usage for this very reason. This has nothing to do with "medicines being outdated", it has to do with correct and disciplined usage of antibiotics. Norwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax.…

Norwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax. Treating a patient from Spain with the same penicillin which is used for Norwegian patients would not have any effect and kill the patient. This is _solely_ because poor discipline in drug usage leads to antibiotics-risistant bacteria. Wait what? The efficacy of an antibiotic is depende…

It was implied that it was a tourist who acquired the infection in Spain, where the bacterial strains are often resistant to antibiotics due to lax treatment discipline.

Re: Totally drug-resistant TB emerges in India

#43

Post by dodedo » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 3:18 AM UTC

tsotha wrote: post #29

dodedo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of those would be easier to exterminate than others. Many animals carry influenza or plague, but isn't leprosy limited to humans and armadillos?

I don't know. But even if it's true, and even assuming we can develop a vaccine, how do you propose to go out and vaccinate every nine-banded armadillo, not missing even one population large enough to harbor the disease? This isn't an endangered species - they're all over the southeastern US.

If it were a serious enough threat to the public health we could always exterminate the armadillo species. Make an animal legal to hunt, add a bounty, and the population will be decimated in under a decade.

Re: Totally drug-resistant TB emerges in India

#44

Post by Ankur84 » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 8:36 AM UTC

marvin wrote: post #34

hesdeadjim wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not quite that simple. This popped up on Reddit a few days back and in the comments a physician from India mentioned that a big part of the problem is that a) antibiotics are extremely over-used as they can be gotten over the counter and people do not understand that they do nothing for viral infections like the common cold, and b) his patients rarely finished an entire course even when they were directed to. Bo…

Unfortunately I'm a bit late to the party on this, but as a case in point, Norway has _very_ tight discipline on penicillin and antibiotics usage for this very reason. This has nothing to do with "medicines being outdated", it has to do with correct and disciplined usage of antibiotics. Norwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax.…

So maybe the solution is not related to improving the drugs but improving the packaging. How about a packet that allows tablets to only be released at the correct times and records when they are not taken. Then require the patient to submit the packet to the doctor after the course. Draconian I know, but the alternatives are worse.