Antibiotics II

Antibiotics II

   Scratchy throat?  Take some antibiotics.  While you might hear that answer from your doctor (see the previous post), it might not be the accurate one since antibiotics will work on a bacterial strep infection but not a sore throat from a flu bug or some other viral infection.  For that, you'll have likely been better off with a flu vaccine, "genetic material packaged in an envelope of proteins and fats, studded with yet more proteins --antigens-- that push the body's immune system into action," as described in a recent issue of Wired.  But that's a whole different issue, that of vaccines (think measles and Ebola) which work on your body developing and building a response to fight the introduced virus.  And there you are, the big difference...viruses vs. bacteria.

   Since we're on the subject of antibiotics (which work on bacterial infections and not viruses), this fight to ward off bacterial infections goes not that far back to the discovery of penicillin; and back in 1945, as the Nobel Prize winning discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming, predicted, antibiotics would possibly be used with abandon and would lead to ever stronger bacteria.  But even as that is happening (as mentioned earlier, we're seeing an increase in the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria), the production of new antibiotics is plummeting, their profitability to the pharmaceutical companies giving way to other drugs that produce a higher financial return (such as those for longer-lasting, more chronic diseases). In the years 1980-1999, an average of 16 new antibiotics were created every 4 years.  In the years since, that number has dropped to about 3 every four years.

   These new superbugs can move into our systems from hospitals, undercooked meat, even simple contact with farm animals and/or their feces (or residues on our foods).  And many of the superbugs are so named because we are discovering that our newest, strongest antibiotics are proving inefficient to control them.  But before we go further, let's go back to the beginning...the microbes (and the TED talk on microbes, which again, is well worth watching) because both bacteria AND viruses are, yes, microbes (it's estimated that our bodies are basically 90% microbial cells and only 10% human cells).  What???  But here's the difference, and why vaccines can work on one and not the other (and the same with antibiotics).  From the start, viruses are tiny, the largest ones usually smaller than the smallest bacteria.  And while bacteria can reproduce on their own, viruses need a host, a cell to more or less kidnap and trick into replicating them.  And while antibiotics can work by breaking into the cell walls of bacteria, viruses have what seems to be no life, and thus no way to be killed.  Think you're puzzled?  Imagine the number of scientists trying to figure that out as well...SARS, Ebola, HIV.  The search for a cure continues...

   Enter mucus (we humans each make more than a gallon of mucus per day...unbelievable).  But mucus is proving to be quite the filter, trapping and doing so with more sophistication than previously thought.  Biochemist Katharina Ribbeck of MIT told Popular Science, "It turns out the body can change the composition of those threads and build gels with different characteristics."  On the bacterial side, one other natural enemy is a virus called a phage studied and used somewhat in Eastern bloc countries (but for the most part, rejected by western medicine).  Newer studies are using certain phages to target specific strains of bacteria, including that of burn wounds and staph.

   If it all sounds a bit daunting, do remember that this is a far cry from a medical treatise for I write this having no medical education (which is why the links provided are much more detailed and researched) and one should read this as such.  But in my thumbing through all of the research, one final thought goes back to our changing climate (from several posts ago).  The melting permafrost is exposing not only some interesting animal bones, but yes, some ancient virus forms and some being 30% larger than virus forms we know today.  Scientists warming the permafrost added amoebas and watched as the 30,000-year old virus form began replicating.  Which brings up the question, what other organisms will we be releasing;  and if we're having such a difficult time with viruses and bacteria now, will we be able to contain or if necessary, destroy a new, potentially deadly (or beneficial) strain? 

   The planet continues to warm...and there might more than a few surprises waiting for us as their frozen cells begin to thaw.