[ExI] The post-antibiotic era

[Anders Sandberg]

On 2013-11-17 11:04, BillK wrote:
> 'Superbugs could erase a century of medical advances' experts warn.

It is not quite that bad, but it is taking seriously. Not an existential 
risk, and unlikely to shorten lifespans dramatically (note that she 
talks about death rates of bacterial infections), but a real risk to our 
individual lives.

The problem seems to be that right now (1) there are few economic 
incentives to develop better or new kinds of antibiotics for a variety 
of reasons, (2) the people struggling against resistance are mostly 
stuck in "reduce misuse"-mode, which means that they do not help (1) 
much, and likely will fail because they can at most stipulate sensible 
rules in their own countries, not in emerging markets where the big 
breeding of resistant pathogens take place.

Meanwhile the right kind of hospital organisation and handling of 
patients with resistant pathogens can help a lot; there are regional 
differences in Europe that show this (apparently the Netherlands and 
Sweden are paradigm examples, while Germany for some reason fails at it).

Bring on the nanoparticle antibiotics, Sonia and Sonia!
http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/briefings/nano-antibiotics-breifing.pdf

-- 
Dr Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University