A is For Antibiotics

We currently only have a limited number of antibiotics. These agents are administered when we have a bacterial (not a viral) infection and can prevent the disease spreading or even killing the patient. We just have to consider the outcomes of relatively minor wounds, in the pre-antibiotic age. It is self-evident that overuse of antibiotics is not a good idea. It puts selection pressure on bacteria who can rapidly evolve (they divide every few minutes) resistant strains (so-called 'superbugs'). We then have to use a different antibiotic, if one is available. An area in which antibiotic overuse is rampant is farming. The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics have produced a strongly worded account of what may happen to UK food post-Brexit (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/01/farm-animals-antibiotics-data-raises-post-brexit-trade-fears). They note that, unlike the EU, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, allow antibiotics to be added to animal feed for chickens, cows and pigs. This allows animals to be housed at higher densities and the drugs act as growth stimulants. The levels of antibiotics used are many times that allowed in the EU (and currently in the UK). Feeding antibiotics leads to cheaper meat and increased profits for the farmers. It also, of course, greatly stimulates the production of 'superbugs' and reduces our ability to deal with human bacterial infections. The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics are worried that, the desire of the UK to enter trade deals post-Brexit, will encourage an already inappropriate use of antibiotics.