Antibiotic resistant bacteria have been called one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. Almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can quickly spread. They threaten the community with new strains of infectious disease that are more difficult to cure and more expensive to treat.
Antibiotic resistance can cause significant danger and suffering for children and adults who have common infections, once easily treatable with antibiotics. Bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 can develop resistance to specific medicines. A common misconception is that a person’s body becomes resistant to specific antibiotics; however, it is the bacteria, which become resistant to the drugs.
If a bacterium is resistant to many drugs, treating the subsequent infections it causes can become difficult or even impossible. Someone with an infection that is resistant to a certain medicine can easily pass that resistant infection to another person. A difficult illness can be spread from person to person. In some cases, the illness can be very serious and have terrible complications like sepsis or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which can lead to acute kidney failure or even death.
With the recent King Soopers and Beef Packers, Inc. ground beef recalls related to contamination with antibiotic resist Salmonella, the public is at a risk of being exposed to these resistant microbes. It is critical that food manufacturers take absolutely every precaution to eliminate these antibiotic resistant food pathogens from ever entering our food supply.
