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.
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