Penicillin and MRSA

My previous post might leave the idea that MRSA is down to problems caused by drug users, when actually the first published article that I saw related to Viet Nam.

Apparently GI’s were fond of brothels, even although they knew that the girls were infected (possibly deliberately) and even although Uncle Sam provided condoms. GI’s were given a dose of penicillin and allowed to go straight back to the brothel. (My understanding is that British soldiers, in Korea, were put in the chokey for “making themselves unfit for active duty”). By the end of the war, US medics were using 16x stronger doses. The constant re-infection before the penicillin had properly done its job, allowed the Gonococcus to build up a resistance. Worse, was that some people were infected with Meningococcus at the same time and these cocci can tranfer segments of DNA through something called plasmids, so the meningococcus gained the same resistance to penicillin.

Another abuse occurred with farmers finding that beef cattle and chickens, treated with antibiotics, put on weight faster. A brilliant idea, which allowed diseases, such as Salmonella to build up a resistance.

The significance of MRSA is that practically all antibiotics were rendered vitually useless until a new one called Methicillin was discovered.  The relief was short-lived when a species of Staphylococcus Aureus was discovered to be Resistant to Methicillin.

Staphylococcus Aureus is the bacterium that causes boils and was the reason so many died in WW I, from their wounds (more died from staph infections than were killed directly by bullets).

Apparently we do have new treatments, but we are in continual danger of a return to the pre-Penicillin days.

drugs: secondary health issues.

Phew! lots of hits for posting on control of drugs. Most just spammers, seizing on the word “drugs”, but some from people concerned with the problem. One aspect that I hadn’t considered is how the suppression of needle users is leading to the spread of HIV and presumably other health problems such as Hepatitis.

I remember reading that TB (once known as consumption, people basically suffocate as their lungs turn cardboard like scar tissue example is possibly Doc Holliday) has come back in a more resistant form because drugees (reference was for those in New York) were entering hospital with pneumonia etc, getting antibiotics, then leaving before the antibiotics (to get a fix) had fully eradicated the TB. This is the sort of thing that leads to the build up of resistance to antibiotics and the stupid situation that we now have with MRSA.

There are possibly other ways that permitting drug control to be left in the hands of “entrepreneurs” is actually damaging/harming the people and Society in general.