Antibiotics - Research Paper Example

About eighty percent of all antibiotics available are used in agriculture, for the purpose of fighting infections and for promoting unhealthy but profitable weight gain. According to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural affairs, on-going low-dose administration of antibiotics can increase the efficiency and rate of weight gain in healthy livestock. Further, it is likely that the presence of antibiotics may change the composition of the gut flora in favor of healthy growth. However, there is a debate concerning the way in which gut flora are changed.

It may be merely a change in species composition, reduction in numbers, or a combination of both. Some antibiotics given to healthy livestock may also improve feed consumption and healthy growing by stimulating an animal’s metabolic process. Jill U. Adams of the Los Angeles Times argues that many ranchers and farmers give tetracycline, penicillin and other antibiotics to healthy animals to avoid them from being sick. They also grow big after they use the antibiotics (Adams, 2012) Raising healthier animals can be unhealthful for humans.

Experts recently reviewed most of the scientific writings on the subject of the use of antibiotics in animals and the health hazards in humans. They concluded that, the extent to which antibiotics in livestock use contributes to antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause food borne diseases in humans is unclear. The experts asserted that wide scientific studies affirm that individuals are most probable to get resistant illnesses due to their own use of antibiotics. Concerning food borne infections, luckily, for most healthy persons, majority of food borne infections including those brought by resistant bacteria, are not extremely severe to require antibiotic treatment (Chiras, 2005).

Nonetheless, to help limit potential risks, the Food and Drug Administration policies include a procedure to establish if using a certain antibiotic can increase resistance risk. FDA also enforces that if deemed suitable, conditions for the prescription of the antibiotic would hinder resistance development. However, meat consumers should always adhere to recommendations to avert the occurrence of food borne illnesses, such as thorough cleaning of food preparation regions, frequent hand washing, and cooking foods, especially meat to recommended temperatures.

Overuse and misuse of antibiotics may create selective evolutionary pressure that favors antimicrobial resistant types of bacteria to increase quickly than antimicrobial vulnerable bacteria. This increases the chance for people to be infected by resistant bacteria. Since antibacterial drug use contributes to the growth of drug resistant organisms, these vital drugs should be utilized judiciously in both human and animal medicine to slow down the emergence of resistance. Meat from animals treated with antibiotics is the main source of pathogens in humans that are resistant to antibiotics.

This is evidenced when the author writes that for about 40 years, FDA has been concerned that the use of antibiotics in livestock may be accelerating the increase of pathogens in humans that are not susceptible to doctor’s medication. In addition, he mentions that people infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria or pathogens seem to be more seriously ill and are not easy to treat (Adams, 2012). Pathogens that are resistant to antibiotic accounts for approximately $20 or more billion healthcare expenses in the United States yearly, inclusive of longer