Ever since working as an infection control nurse, I've been interested in the rapid spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes (ARMs). I'd known from childhood that taking antibiotics uneccessarily or not following the prescription- usually taking only PART of the pills, until I felt better- would open the door to future antibiotics "not working". I thought that meant that they wouldn't work on me. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this cavalier use of antibiotics poses a major public health risk! In fact, since the first use of penicillin in the 1940s, ARMs have been observed; some microbes were observed to have developed penicillin resistance in the first few years of use.... and of course, it hasn't ended there; the new "superbugs" surface regularly- overwhelming staph infection in a healthy young man was reported just last week in the local news; from a small cut, the guy went septic- infection carried in the blood stream.
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