Use of Antibiotics




The use of antibiotics in factory farms is concerning, considering that it is not regulated. I guess I am not surprised since the chemical industry has not been very regulated prior to the Safe Chemical Act, but I'm beginning to see how lax or corrupt the government has been about monitoring these hazards. I was surprised that the use of antibiotics is being used to prevent and promote growth in animals and not just for treating sick animals.  It is contradictory that when humans take it for treating illnesses, a prescription is needed, but when we feed it to animals there is no regulation.

The idea also that bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics is also a big public health concern. When we do need to use specific medicines to kill certain bacteria in humans, it will become more difficult, which was the case with multi-drug resistant strains of tuberculosis. What other diseases will not be treatable with antibiotics? This is similar to the use of antimicrobial soaps and products, which may increase resistance of bacteria. Its use in hospitals to help reduce disease has not been thoroughly studied, and may actually be creating worse environments.

Most of the times that I have chosen a more natural product over chemical ones, was because of issues like skin irritation, headaches, etc. It makes sense as I am becoming more aware of the polluted methods we use and how adding layers of chemicals to prevent disease may be making us more sick.

Comments

  1. Jordan DemosOctober 6, 2018 at 8:38 PM

    Hi Stacey,

    Interesting take on antibiotic use when it comes to animals and comparing it to humans. There does seem to be very little regulation administering antibiotics to animals and in their food. I commented another persons blog about antibiotic resistance, but could you imagine a world where bacteria is completely resistant to all antibiotics? It is a very scary thought and could become reality at some point in the future.

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  2. Caitlin WintonOctober 7, 2018 at 8:19 AM

    Hi Stacy,

    It is a little infuriating to learn that antibiotics are being used to prevent sickness and disease in livestock. Antibiotics are precious and should only be used in needed situations. Instead of giving antibiotics to livestock because we are treating them so badly we should change the way in which factory farms are handling their animals.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 11, 2018 at 10:25 PM

    Hi Stacey,

    I agree with you. Bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics has been a talk for a while. I remember being in High School and my biology teachers talking about it. There were also use of hand sanitizer and how it actually can harm us. Its crazy because growing up, when we were in Tibet, antibiotics were prescribed to patients like we take Tylenol here. I think this practice still exists. I often wonder, what it did to my body since I was also subjected to these antibiotics when I was younger

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