Kesselheim, A. S. and Outterson, K. (2009). Fighting antibiotic resistance: Marrying
new financial incentives to meeting public health goals. Health Affairs. 29(9). pg. 1689-
- http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/9/1689.full.pdf+html
- “We review a number of proposals intended to bolster drug development,
including such financial incentives for pharmaceutical manufacturers as
extending the effective patent life for new antibiotics. However, such strategies
directly conflict with the clear need to reduce unnecessary antibiotic
prescriptions and could actually increase prescription use.”
- “We review a number of proposals intended to bolster drug development,
Khachatourians, G. C. (1998). Agricultural use of antibiotics and the evolution and
transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 159(9).
pg. 1129-36. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1229782/
- “Intensive animal production involves giving livestock animals large quantities
of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent infection. These uses promote the
selection of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations. The resistant bacteria
from agricultural environments may be transmitted to humans, in whom they
cause disease that cannot be treated by conventional antibiotics.” - “Microbial resistance to antibiotics is on the rise, in part because of inappropriate
use of antibiotics in human medicine but also because of practices in the
agricultural industry.” - “The resistant bacteria from agricultural environments may be transmitted to
humans, in whom they cause disease that cannot be treated by conventional
antibiotics.” - This ancient publication (1998) contains interesting diagrams illustrating the
development and movement of antibiotic resistance genes.
Khouse.org. (2011). Plastic Nanoparticles Fight MRSA. From the April 05, 2011
eNews issue. pg. 1. http://www.khouse.org/enews_article/2011/1759/print/.
- “Engineers in San Jose, California have created a new form of antibiotic out of
manmade nanoparticles...able to search out and destroy even the scariest of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When their job of slaughtering the bacterial enemy is
finished, the nanoparticles harmlessly biodegrade away.” - “The engineers have given the nanoparticles a charge so that they are attracted to
oppositely charged bacteria. In this way, they can be used to target infected cells,
reportedly eradicating bacteria like MRSA while leaving beneficial bacteria
alone.” - “Rather than attacking the bacterial DNA, these brutal plastic machetes beat
down the cell walls, destroying the bacteria from the outside-in.”