Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Blog # 8 Antibiotics Toughen Bacteria On German Farms


According to a recent article, “Antibiotics Toughen Bacteria On German Farms”, five prematurely born children in the city of Bremen died as a result from highly resistant infections that they acquired from the hospital in northern Germany. For the most part, there have always been problems within poultry farms. Hence, stated in the article it says that in most industrial farms, thousands of animals were kept in unhygienic small spaces, which increased the risk of spreading infectious diseases. Furthermore, the bacterium was thought to have been brought into clinics by patients who had come in contact with contaminated poultry. In addition, a death of three other children who were also born premature caused local health officials to perform an intensive investigation into hygiene conditions at the clinic. As a result, the clinic was ordered to renovate there building and there staff was given a refresher course in hygiene.
          Generally speaking, the clinic reopened and closed multiple times due to the infection causing even more deaths. Even more so, the bacteria found in the disease in poultry are also found in humans. A federal health official, Robert Koch reported that over 90 percent of chickens sold in Germany contain extended-spectrum beta-lactamase or ESBL. Additionally, ESBL are bacteria which are resistant to most antibiotics. As stated in the article, 53 people died and more than 4,000 people became sick due to infections carried by contaminated meats and vegetables.
 In conclusion, society will always remain at risk for such infection due to unhygienic practices. Also, there is  no way to completely prevent the spread of the diseases. However if society as a whole used better hygiene practices dealing with crops and farms, it could in return reduce the risk for spreading infection and lower the death rate for many individuals, also the illness that most people acquire. Finally, better hygiene practices will make the food we eat and vegetables that we grow safer to eat. 

No comments: