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December 12, 2001
New
Report Details Those At Greatest Risk From Antibiotic Resistance
Seniors, Children, Medically Vulnerable Hardest Hit By Untreatable
Infections
A new report, "When
Wonder Drugs Don't Work: How Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Children,
Seniors, and the Medically Vulnerable," released today by
Environmental Defense, highlights the significant health risk
posed by antibiotic resistant bacteria to seniors, children, and
individuals with certain medical conditions.
"Cancer patients, premature babies, HIV/AIDS patients and seniors
often depend on antibiotics for their very survival. But overuse of
these drugs in health care and agriculture threatens their
effectiveness. By some estimates, more than 70% of all antibiotics
used in the U.S. are fed to healthy farm animals, to promote slightly
faster growth and to prevent disease that would otherwise result from
unsanitary conditions in factory farms," said Environmental Defense
senior attorney Karen Florini. "Antibiotics are also overused in human
medicine. Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, and doctors and
patients must immediately commit to ending antibiotic overuse in both
agriculture and medicine in order to keep these critically important
drugs working."
"Antibiotics are life-saving wonder drugs, ranging from old familiars
like penicillin to newer drugs like Cipro. Unfortunately, these drugs
are losing their effectiveness as antibiotic resistance continues to
worsen," said Dr. Tamar Barlam, director of the Antibiotic Resistance
Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and co-author
of the report with Florini and Katherine Shea, M.D., M.P.H. "How well
we respond to this crisis will affect lives, especially seniors,
children, and the medically vulnerable," said Dr. Barlam, who is
Board-certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.
Among the report's findings:
For physiological and lifestyle reasons, both children and seniors are
more vulnerable to bacterial illness. In addition, many drugs are
approved only for use in adults not children, and seniors have limited
options because many antibiotics can't be used due to side effects or
interactions with other drugs. As antibiotic resistance further limits
the number of effective drugs, even fewer treatment options will exist
for children and seniors suffering from bacterial illness.
Antibiotics have revolutionized treatment of cancer patients,
transplant patients and other immunocompromised individuals, leading
to dramatically higher survival rates and improved quality of life. If
these drugs lose their effectiveness, the health impacts will be
severe.
# # #
Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization
based in New York, represents more than 300,000 members. Since 1967 we
have linked science, economics, and law to create innovative,
equitable, and cost-effective solutions to the most urgent
environmental problems.
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