Superbugs!

A superbug is defined as any bacterium that has become resistant to antibiotics that are used to treat it.  As you can predict, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics are a big problem, this means new treatment methods must be found to deal with these bacteria.  Bacteria become resistant for a variety of reasons, people misuse antibiotics and cause them to be ineffective, people also use antibiotics for viruses like the cold and flu, even though viruses are not effected by antibiotics.  It is frustrating to me that people contribute to the superbug problem simply by not educating themselves on how antibiotics work and misusing them.  Since superbugs are becoming more and more common, we are in danger of not having any functioning antibiotics anymore, something has to be done to address this problem soon.

In November, the CDC released a report with new information on antibiotic resistance.  According to this report, about 3 million Americans per year experience an illness due to an antibiotic resistant superbug each year.  Of these 3 million people, 35,000 deaths are caused by superbugs in the US each year.  Since the first CDC report about superbugs in 2013, the illness totals have risen from 2 million per year to 3 million, so this is a growing problem.  Dr. Jesse Jacob thinks the problem is more urgent than people are acting, he says “Antibiotic resistance has long been a problem, but the threats we face are real, immediate, and demand immediate action. Antibiotic resistance threatens modern medicine”.  The fact that superbugs are becoming more and more of a problem every year is troubling, we rely on antibiotics for so many things, if they become useless humans could be in a lot of trouble. 

Scientists have begun to look for ways to fight superbugs and an interesting solution may have been found.  A study at McMaster University in Canada found that cannabigerol, a compound in marijuana, could defeat the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.  The cannabinoid compound could be developed into an antibiotic drug that is effective against superbugs.  The compound is also non-psycho-active, meaning it will not get the patients high.  I think it is great that researchers are looking at ways to combat superbugs and may have already found an effective method of doing so.  I know if people would stop misusing antibiotics by taking them incorrectly and giving them to farm animals, superbugs would not be as big of a problem, we must stop contributing to the issue.