Words about science and hiking
It seems like a good idea. After all, combination therapy of antivirals for HIV treatment transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition. But bacteria are not viruses. The scenario in which combining antibiotics makes most sense is when long-term therapy is anticipated—such as for TB treatment. Development of resistance to single Read More …
The term “mutation” is a bit loaded, as it implies a defect or deficiency or aberration of some sort. But the value of a particular version of a gene is very much dependent on its context – what might be a defect in one context conveys an advantage in another. And that context means not Read More …
Tuberculosis bacilli grow slowly, and grow inside human cells[1] . Slow growth tends to make bacteria intrinsically less susceptible to antibiotics, and being inside a host cell makes it more difficult to achieve a high, therapeutically-effective dose of an antibiotic. To add to the challenge, resistance to some of the most effective anti-TB antibiotics (like rifampin) Read More …
If there was indeed a massive outbreak of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections, the government and CDC would do little or nothing. Why? Because they no longer function in any recognizable form. A severe outbreak of bacterial disease could only happen if these institutions have collapsed. Antibiotics are not critical to keeping society safe from bacterial Read More …
I wrote this a year ago for Aeon, but I think it is still worth reading. Especially if you are feeling complacent about the outbreaks of plague in Madagascar, or scarlet fever in the UK. Have a look. Return of the White Death: the threat of new strains of TB
We can and we do evolve immunities to specific diseases. Tuberculosis is a good example. In the 17th-19th centuries it was often the largest single cause of death among Europeans, particularly in cities[1] . What’s more, it was a disease of young adults, with most victims being in their 20s and early 30s. TB exerted Read More …
From a North American perspective, the threat of tuberculosis is grossly underappreciated. TB was rampant in the US in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was typically among the top three killers of the population at large – estimates range as high as 1% of the population per year [1] . TB began a steep Read More …