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Medical Surgery

Antibiotics
Sir Alexander Fleming couldn’t have envisaged the enormous global impact his discovery would have when he observed the actions of the penicilium mould on some cultures of staphylococci bacteria in his laboratory 85 years ago. But that’s exactly what happened - it changed medicine, healthcare and every year it contributes to saving millions of lives.
Antibiotics are substances that destroy bacteria by disrupting processes needed to survive, i.e. turning glucose into energy or inhibit bacterial growth and reproduction. There are now hundreds of types of antibiotics, which are divided into classes depending on what their action is. The most common types are penicillins such as amoxicillin used widely for chest infections and urinary tract infection. Approximately one in 15 will have a reaction to penicillin (and it’s derivatives), a small number of which could have an anaphylaxis, which can kill. Another large group is the broad spectrum Cephalosporins (effective against many infections), which are used for meningitis and septicaemia. The term antibiotic is often incorrectly used to describe a wider range of compounds used to treat other infectious diseases such as anti-fungal or antiretroviral medicines.
Most antibiotics don’t cause many side effects although some people are more sensitive than others but side effects include diarrhoea and indigestion, partly because the antibiotic kills the natural flora already established within our bodies.
The use of antibiotics can be controversial because of the rise of drug resistant bacteria. Drug resistance arises in different ways and creates bacteria that are immune to the original antibiotic, sometimes commonly referred to as superbugs. Sometimes the bacteria can mutate especially if the person taking them doesn’t finish the course. A course will normally be 7-10 days but many people stop taking them when they start to feel better even though all the bacteria haven’t been killed, in fact it is the most robust bacteria last longest and are those that survive to produce bacterial strains against which the antibiotics won’t work. Common ‘superbugs’ are meticilin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), clostridium difficile and most worryingly MDR-TB (multi drug resistant tuberculosis). Also an estimated 80% of gonorrhoea is now resistant to first line antibiotics. As drugs develop resistance the pharmaceutical companies have to keep up so that what were common bacterial infections don’t become a major public health threat. All this results in an expensive treatment.
Within Europe Greece has the highest antibiotic use with almost 40 people per 1000 using antibiotics on any given day. Spain and the UK are mid-table with 20,3 and 18,7 respectfully with Estonia the least with only 11 people per 1000 using them. The reliance on antibiotics accompanied by invasive hospital techniques, cancer treatments (which can lower immunity), overcrowded living conditions all contribute to the spread of resistant drugs.
But it’s not just human antibiotic use that we need to be aware of. High use of antibiotics on farms may mean that drug resistant bacteria may escape and infect people. The use of cephalosporins has increased threefold and fluoroquinolones (used to treat TB and HIV related infections) has doubled since 2003. The control of antibiotics in animals isn’t as stringent as in humans but the bacteria that affect animals can equally affect humans.

If you would like me to address any health related issue please get in touch via The Ibiza Sun or at the email below.

Kevin, writer of this column works as a nurse and sports massage therapist and can be contacted on tel. 634527800 or email ibizanursemassage@yahoo.com. Good health to you all.