There is no doubt that antibiotics have saved millions of lives since the 1940s, but their overuse leaves people vulnerable to infections that are resistant to traditional treatments. Dr. Edward Ryan, director of the travel clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital, told "60 Minutes" that new research shows that traveling abroad may put you at risk for exposure to drug-resistant bacteria. Dr Ryan revealed early results from a study into travel and drug-resistant bacteria found that one in three people returning from overseas travel tested positive for drug-resistant superbugs, Jezebel reported.
But don’t let that stop you from getting on a plane. Dr. Ryan said drug-resistant superbugs are just as likely to emerge in the United States as they are in developing countries. Like most living organisms, bacteria adapt and mutate in order to survive. In this case, survival means mutating into antibiotic-resistant superbugs. If you've never wondered about life before antibiotics, the development of these miracle drugs meant that previously deadly diseases and infections, such as cat scratches or respiratory infections, could be cured. But it's also a case of too much of a good thing, and overuse of antibiotics may end up returning us to where we started - being unable to treat bacterial infections.
"We take antibiotics for granted. We think we can use them like sugar pills, that they're safe, and that resistance is just something biologists worry about and you never really see in real life," said economist Ramanan Laxminarayan. A senior research scholar at Princeton University told "60 Minutes."
Unfortunately, this isn't a post-apocalyptic movie plot. A research paper by C. Lee Ventola in the journal Pharmacy & Therapeutics notes that in some countries, antibiotics are available over the counter, making them more susceptible to overuse. In the United States, overuse of antibiotics is one of the causes of this problem. Additionally, if you stop taking antibiotics before your course is over because you feel better, it may encourage bacteria that "haven't" been killed (i.e. the strongest bacteria) to proliferate.
"Many public health organizations have described the rapid emergence of drug-resistant bacteria as a 'crisis' or a 'nightmare' that could have 'catastrophic consequences.' The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared in 2013 that humanity is now in a 'post-antibiotic Times', and in 2014, the World Health Organization warned that the antibiotic resistance crisis was getting serious," Ventola declared.
While most people think it won't happen to them, David Ricci told "60 Minutes" he contracted the deadly drug-resistant bacteria in India after being hospitalized in an accident. When he returned to the United States, doctors tried 19 different antibiotics to treat the superbug, eventually settling on an antibiotic from the 1940s that came with a host of dangerous side effects, including organ damage . Ricci eventually recovered, but not everyone does. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 2 million people in the United States are infected with superbugs every year, and 23,000 people die from these infections.
A British government study predicts that antibiotic-resistant bacteria will kill 10 million people a year by 2050, surpassing cancer as the leading cause. While this does sound scary, there are some very simple steps you can take to protect yourself and others from these superbug invaders.
"As an individual, first recognizing that taking antibiotics inappropriately can do you more harm than good can have a huge impact. So even if you don't care about other people's resistance, you might consider the fact that antibiotics win out when you really need them They don't work for you," Laxminarayan said. Also, avoid using hand sanitizer and antibacterial products as they can cause bacteria to become resistant, and wash your hands with good old fashioned soap and water.
