What does it mean to develop a resistance towards Tamiflu?
Let us explain this difficult subject matter based on a simple example: you carelessly cut your pointer finger. As the protection provided by your skin is no longer complete, bacteria invade the wound and begin to take hold.
Depending on the kind of bacteria and the condition of your immune system, even simple injuries such as this can lead to large-scale infections. Your finger starts turning red, is inflamed and hurts. You go to your doctor, who logically prescribes antibiotics that you have to take for the next 7 days. Remember that antibiotics are highly effective against bacteria so that after a mere four days the swelling has finally gone down and the pain is almost gone.
On the other hand, the side-effects of the antibiotics make themselves felt – ranging from stomach irritations and diarrhea to skin rashes. But what happens if you stop taking the antibiotics too soon? Simply put, you managed to kill off 99% of the bacteria, which explains the improvement in the status of the wound, but 1% of the bacteria are still alive, as they have developed an increased resistance towards this particular antibiotic!
This resistance occurs purely by chance when the bacteria are “born”. If you discontinue this therapy, these die-hard bacteria start to mulitply like rabbits and you once again have 100% bacteria (of the new and improved kind).
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Repeating this process over and over leads to increasing numbers of bacteria which have better defences against the medication used – they become resistant!
The germs thus develop a resistance. What happens in your body is basically the same as in natural selection – the strongest survive.
But let us move beyond this theoretical model and think in greater dimensions. Each and every medication we take is excreted, albeit in a slightly modified chemical form. Our sewer systems and our environment receive daily deposits of this special medical cocktail. You may ask yourself what effect this has on all the germs out there? Selection!
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Not just bacteria develop a resistance, however – viruses do too! Repeated use of anti-viral medication also leads to greater resistance. As an example from Denmark shows: in June of 2009 the first case of an H1N1-(swine flu) resistance to Tamiflu was reported there.
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Until people learn to use medicines responsibly, their efficacy will continue to decrease!
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But how can we reduce our medication consumption? More about this topic in the the next days…
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