Health Officials in the Us Are Sounding the Alarm Over Drug-Resistant Bacteria

I couldn't even find it on sci-hub.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub

I've heard it's actually just completely wrong. The earlier you stop taking antibiotics the faster the selective pressure for resistance goes away.

stopping when you feel better might actually just be better, though I'd have to go find that reference again.

Eg: https://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3418

Where the logic made no sense was optional repeats. I would get told "here is one course, if you dont feel better, you can take this script for the second". So after five days you finish the first and if you feel better its fine to stop. But if you take one pill from course 2, well you better finish it or you'll be breeding resistance.

Humans, as a rule, do not take antibiotics every day of every year.

Factory Farms do feed animals low doses of antibiotics constantly because doing so makes farm animals more efficient at converting animal feed into tasty, tasty meat.

We aren't talking about giving injured or sick animals or people antibiotics until they are well, we are talking about creating conditions on huge factory farms where bacteria can only survive and thrive if they evolve the ability to shrug off the constant presence of antibiotics.

Unfortunately, bacteria also are able to trade those antibiotic resistance genes from one strain to another, so new antibiotic resistance genes can get transferred to bacteria like tuberculosis that are already a problem without learning new genetic tricks.

Look up the percentage of antibiotics by weight that are used on farms vs. those given to people.

> Of all antibiotics sold in the United States, approximately 80% are sold for use in animal agriculture; about 70% of these are “medically important” (i.e., from classes important to human medicine). Antibiotics are administered to animals in feed to marginally improve growth rates

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4638249/

> And it's not like we have a good alternative to that - "let more people die earlier" is not an easy sell

Decreasing big pharma's quarterly profits is not an easy sell, you mean?

Or are we supposed to pretend any of this has to do with concern over people's well being?

Perhaps they meant to suggest that factory farms are overusing antibiotics, rather than the antibiotics remain in the meat we consume?

Anecdotally, I’ve heard plenty of concern (from the public) that the latter could breed resistant bacteria, but never even heard of your interpretation as a concern.

Sounds like the overuse of antibiotics in animals we slaughter was noted and regulated against, according to the document you linked:

> Did you know? As of January 1, 2017, Federal guidelines require a veterinarian to write the prescription or order when antibiotics important to human health will be used in feed or water of livestock and poultry. Why is this important? As in health care, professionals in veterinary medicine must identify where antibiotic use practices can be improved. Eliminating unnecessary antibiotic use is an important part of antibiotic stewardship.

Anyway, I took GP's comment to refer to the overuse of antibiotics in animals we slaughter and not the amount of antibiotics still detectable in the meat. As of 2015 at least that was still a problem and had an impact on resistant bacteria.

> Of all antibiotics sold in the United States, approximately 80% are sold for use in animal agriculture; about 70% of these are “medically important” (i.e., from classes important to human medicine).2 Antibiotics are administered to animals in feed to marginally improve growth rates and to prevent infections, a practice projected to increase dramatically worldwide over the next 15 years.3 There is growing evidence that antibiotic resistance in humans is promoted by the widespread use of nontherapeutic antibiotics in animals. Resistant bacteria are transmitted to humans through direct contact with animals, by exposure to animal manure, through consumption of undercooked meat, and through contact with uncooked meat or surfaces meat has touched.

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4638249/