Sci/Tech Bacteria that can resist nearly all antibiotics have been found in Antarctic seawater

[tom_mai78101]

BACTERIA that can resist nearly all antibiotics have been found in Antarctic seawater.

Björn Olsen of Uppsala University in Sweden and colleagues took seawater samples between 10 and 300 metres away from Chile's Antarctic research stations, Bernardo O'Higgins, Arturo Prat and Fildes Bay. A quarter of the samples of Escherichia coli bacteria carried genes that made an enzyme called ESBL, which can destroy penicillin, cephalosporins and related antibiotics (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, DOI: 10.1128/AEM.07320-11).

Bacteria with these genes can be even more dangerous than the better known superbug MRSA. That's because the genes sit on a mobile chunk of DNA that can be acquired by many species of bacteria, increasing the incidence of drug-resistant infections such as the E. coli outbreak last year in Germany.

The type of ESBL they found, called CTX-M, is common in bacteria in people, and the Uppsala study found that concentrations of resistant bacteria were higher close to the sewage outfalls from the stations. Some Antarctic stations started shipping out human faeces for incineration after gut bacteria were found nearby. Chile's research stations have virtually no sewage treatment in place, says Olsen.

Superbugs spied off the Antarctic coast

Bacteria that resist nearly all antibiotics have been found in seawater off Antarctic research stations, probably arriving there through human sewage

www.newscientist.com

 

[NoobImbaPro]

Hit it with Nokia 3310 before it lays eggs!!!

 

[FireCat]

I'm not one bit surprised about this !

 

[Switch33]

This is the crap(no pun intended since it's from human faeces!) that the US government should be inforcing rather than cracking down on stuff like MegaUpload. This is an serious problem and regulations need to be put into place or it could mean a whole new problem. This bacteria sounds really scary and could cause tons of deaths from what it says really.


Lysol spray kills 99% of bacteria. . . wonder is this the 1%? We all hate the 1% for rich anyway why should it change for bacteria lol?

 

[Jindo]

That headline is ridiculously misleading, but bacteria gaining resistance to antibiotics is a real issue that may greatly impact us one day.

 

[Mahucharn]

Keep them away from me! Also, stop using medicine for things that you don't absolutely need to, it will eventually end up making us take such large doses of meds that it will not only kill the bacteria, it will kill us as well.

 

[FireCat]

keep them away from me! Also, stop using medicine for things that you don't absolutely need to, it will eventually end up making us take such large doses of meds that it will not only kill the bacteria, it will kill us as well.

Yeah QFT! And we need to stop feed "healthy animals" with unnecessary antibiotics.

 

[Varine]

Keep them away from me! Also, stop using medicine for things that you don't absolutely need to, it will eventually end up making us take such large doses of meds that it will not only kill the bacteria, it will kill us as well.

OR we become immune to EVERYTHING! I think I saw it in a movie once, something about a princess diary...

 

[BlowingKush]

..... that may greatly impact us one day.

Why would it only impact us for one day?

 

[Varine]

Why would it only impact us for one day?

Low incubation period?

 

[camelCase]

Keep them away from me! Also, stop using medicine for things that you don't absolutely need to, it will eventually end up making us take such large doses of meds that it will not only kill the bacteria, it will kill us as well.

I blame the people in my course.
They all take medications for the littlest of coughs, sore throats and runny noses <.<
They also take very long, extended, medical leave days for those.

On occassion, I feel jealous of their dishonesty =/

 

[Ninja_sheep]

This is one of those things that will hopefully get regulated soon.
It's quite ridiculous.

In salmon farms they just dump antibiotics into the sea.