Antibiotic Resistance

If the phrase “too much of a good thing” applies to anything, it surely applies to antibiotics. Their discovery was one of the most important medical advances of the last century, but overuse has eroded their effectiveness. There’s widespread agreement on the need to speed up development of new antibiotics and to discourage doctors from prescribing the drugs when they’re not needed. Another side of the issue is more contentious: roughly 80 percent of antibiotics in the U.S. are fed to farm animals. Regulators say using them to fatten livestock faster helps spread drug resistance. Meanwhile, globally an estimated 700,000 people a year die from drug-resistant infections, with millions more falling sick.

In late 2015, researchers reported the discovery of a freshly evolved gene capable of neutralizing the strongest antibiotic drugs. Apparently arising from the agricultural use of antibiotics in China, the gene uses a mechanism that will allow resistance to spread more quickly than ever. Under a U.S. Food and Drug Administration voluntary plan, all relevant drug companies have agreed to relabel antibiotics, making their use contingent on a veterinarian’s prescription. The state of California adopted an outright ban on giving the drugs to healthy animals in 2015. The European Union imposed one in 2006. Among the fast-food chains that have announced policies to reduce the use of meat from animals raised with antibiotics are Chipotle, Panera Bread and McDonald’s. Tyson Foods, the biggest seller of chicken in the U.S., announced it would eliminate the use in healthy birds of antibiotics that are also used by humans by September 2017. Health officials report some success in campaigns to limit inappropriate use by humans. One study concluded that while total global consumption of antibiotics grew by 36 percent between 2000 and 2010, use was stable or fell moderately in most wealthy countries. Most of the growth was in poorer nations, where antibiotics are often given as a substitute for public-health measures. On another front, the FDA is considering requiring companies to prove the effectiveness and safety of antibacterial hand washes, arguing that they don’t improve health and may be contributing to resistance.