'Rising Plague' Of Deadly Bacteria Kills Thousands Each Year: New Book

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: MRSA / Drug Resistance;  Public Health
Article Date: 19 Sep 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Antibiotic-resistant microbes infect more than 2 million Americans and kill over 100,000 each year. They spread rapidly, even in such seemingly harmless places as high school locker rooms, where they infect young athletes. Throughout the world, many more people are dying from these infections. Astoundingly, as antibiotic resistant infections are skyrocketing in incidence - creating a critical need for new antibiotics - research and development of new antibiotics has ground to a screeching halt!

In RISING PLAGUE: THE GLOBAL THREAT FROM DEADLY BACTERIA AND OUR DWINDLING ARSENAL TO FIGHT THEM (Prometheus Books), Dr. Brad Spellberg - an infectious diseases specialist and member of a national task force charged with attacking antibiotic resistant infections - tells the story of this potentially grave public health crisis. The author shares true and very moving patient stories to emphasize the terrible frustration he and his colleagues have experienced while attempting to treat untreatable infections, not to mention the heartbreak and tragedy that many of these patients' families had to endure.

"Most Americans have heard about the increasing resistance of bacterial infections to antibiotics, but few are aware that we are rapidly facing a different kind of crisis….[Dr.] Spellberg provides convincing evidence of the complexities of drug development and why we need to find incentives for developing new antibiotics. Avoiding medical jargon, this fast-paced call to action should be read by anyone concerned about our medical future….," Library Journal.

Dr. Spellberg corrects the nearly universal misperception that physician misuse of antibiotics and "dirty hospitals" are responsible for causing antibiotic-resistant infections. He explains the true causes of antibiotic resistance and of the virtual collapse of antibiotic research and development. Most importantly, he advocates ways to reverse this dire trend and instead bolster the production of desperately needed new and effective antibiotics.

"Using a compelling series of clinical anecdotes, Dr. Spellberg demonstrates how the development of resistance in bacteria has steadily eroded the effectiveness of antibiotics, arguably the most important life-saving drugs developed by the pharmaceutical industry in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, as the levels of resistance in bacteria increase, research and development of new drugs to combat these resistant organisms is plummeting," said Robert C. Moellering, Jr., M.D., Shields Warren-Mallinckrodt Professor of Medical Research at Harvard Medical School. "In this clearly written book, Dr. Spellberg provides a cogent explanation for this paradox and delineates a series of logical steps that can be employed to deal with this worldwide public health problem."

In RISING PLAGUE: THE GLOBAL THREAT FROM DEADLY BACTERIA AND OUR DWINDLING ARSENAL TO FIGHT THEM, Dr. Spellberg also warns against complacency induced by the decades-old assumption that some miracle drug will always be available to ensure the continuation of our "antibiotic era." If we do nothing, we run the risk of inviting a bleak future when infectious diseases will once again reign supreme. Then many of the medical breakthroughs that we now take for granted - from routine surgery and organ transplants to intensive care and battlefield medicine - might all be threatened.

"This book … is a wakeup call for a brewing crisis. We will not defeat microbes - they have us by 1000-fold more years and 100 million-fold more tons. This is just one of seemingly hundreds of facts about the increasing problem of untreatable infections," said John G. Bartlett, MD, former chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "…. Considering that antibiotic resistance is an inevitable fact-of-life and experience showing it takes 8-10 years to bring a new drug to market, we are now preparing for 2015…. [Dr.] Brad Spellberg spells it all out in a compelling fashion. This is the only review I know that has the complete story from all perspectives."

This crucial and timely book is lucidly written in terms that everyone can understand. It issues a call to action, explaining how, through a strong and concerted effort, we can all help prevent this nightmare scenario from happening. By following this courageous doctor's recommendations, we can assure that magic bullets will be there for our families and us in the future.

Source:
Jill Maxick
Prometheus Books