FIGHTING SUPERBUGS.For more than 30 years, doctors have used the antibiotic vancomycin when all others have failed. Now vancomycin itself is starting to fail. More than half the strains of Enterococcus faecium Enterococcus faecium A nosocomial pathogen resistant to most antibiotics–eg, penicillin, teicoplanin, aminoglycosides, glycopeptides; ID of E faecium in a clinical specimen requires Pt isolation with barrier precautions. , a bacterium that causes infections after surgery, are resistant to it. Enter Synercid, a new antibiotic that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in September. In about half the cases, Synercid works when other antibiotics--including vancomycin--don't. But bacteria have already started to become immune to Synercid. Part of the problem is that a close cousin of Synercid, virginiamycin virginiamycin an antibiotic mixture of virginiamycin M1 and virginiamycin S1, produced in cultures of Streptomyces virginiae; active against gram-positive cocci. Used mostly as a feed additive for pigs to promote growth. , has been routinely fed to poultry (to speed growth) for over a decade. That might explain why bacteria are starting to become resistant to Synercid. To keep that from happening, you can urge the government to: * Prohibit livestock producers from routinely adding medically important antibiotics to animal feed to promote growth. Write to: FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. Commissioner Jane E. Henney Jane E. Henney is an American physician who was the first woman to serve as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, she served at the FDA between 1998 and 2001. , 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857 (hamric@oc.fda.gov). * Not let U.S. trade policy endanger the public's health. The European Union has sensibly banned antibiotics used by humans from animal feed, a decision supported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation ) and the World Health Organization. The Clinton Administration, in a misguided effort to protect U.S. meatpackers and drug companies, is protesting that decision. Write to: U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, 600 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20508. Michael F. Jacobson Michael F. Jacobson, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology, co-founded the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 1971, along with two fellow scientists he met while working at the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. Executive Director Center for Science in the Public Interest |
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