Microbe Meltdown: The truth about bacteria, viruses, superbugs, and other things that go bump in the media

From an insider's perspective looking out, the closest thing I can relate our 'war on microbes' to is a classic greek tragedy, in which the hero (modern medicine) has seen the future (vicious microbes killing people), and in an overzealous attempt to prevent that future, they end up inadvertently fulfilling it. The first world is one that's terrified itself into a stupor over microbes, obsessing itself with being clean, germ-free, sanitary, and therefor healthy. We're surrounded up to our ears in anti-bacterial soaps, sanitizing solutions, antiseptics, UV irradiator vents (harmless to people because the vents block the UV light escaping when installed correctly), more and more antibiotics, antivirals, and many other anti-microbial innovations. What's more is that while the proverbial sea level of sanitation innovation rises, we seem all too ready to drown in it. It's no coincidence that as our collective anti-microbial efforts have reached an all-time high, we're seeing more and more aptly-named 'superbugs'. Of course, whenever the media runs out of terrorists, politicians from the opposing party, or dead celebrities, they fall back on scaring you into more anti-microbial products by sharing ghastly tales of bacteria with a hearty, heaping slathering on of exaggerations of the truth- invisible boogeymen, as they would have it, that strike heartlessly and at complete random to inflict much pain, suffering, and media attention on innocent people.

So does this mean that the media's to blame for the same superbugs it speaks out about? Yes, they can carry some of the blame for this problem, but only some. They were- and still are- really just one of many contributors to the superbug issue. Other sources of the problem can be traced to the medical profession- for practically inundating anyone with anything with enough antibiotics to stock an apocalypse shelter until we figured out that maaaaybe that wasn't the best course of action-, the public- for a general lack of education on the matter, not bothering to investigate any deeper than what the TV told them, and for buying into the whole thing-, and some pharmaceutical/health industry corporations- for promoting the belief that all 'germs' are evil and require elimenation for a healthy lifestyle, allowing them to push their antimicrobial products. Don't get me wrong, they've all got their uses and probably all had good intentions, but it's gone off the rails and started us down a bad path.

Now, you may be wondering, "Just what IS a 'superbug'?" Well, a so-called superbug is a malicious bacteria that's been forced into a sort of evolution by the overuse and inadvertent misuse of antibiotics and, in some cases, antivirals. Anyone who was prescribed antibiotics and only took them until they felt better instead of finishing off their whole course has probably created a superbug and never known it. The reason for this is that because the antibiotics helped kill off most of the bacteria, enough to turn things in your immune system's favor and thus leading to an easing of symptoms, but because you stopped taking the antibiotics, you didn't kill the strongest, more antibiotic-resistant bugs, thus allowing them to make more antibiotic-resistant kids. Eventually, this process repeats itself enough times to create a bacteria that's practically invulnerable to that particular antibiotic and/or related antibiotics. Now, to clarify, this process isn't just limited to medicinal antibiotics- it can also conceivably apply to antibiotic and antiseptic soaps, or any other substance, device, or process designed to kill microorganisms, as they're similar concepts.

So, does this mean that we need to abandon antibiotics completely in order to save ourselves? No, absolutely not. Antibiotics are absolutely a positive force in the medical field, and we've already gotten too far in over our heads to turn back now. What we can do, however, is take some simple, painless steps to avoid creating superbugs. First and foremost, when you or your child/dependent is prescribed antibiotics, make sure that you take all of them exactly as directed until you run out or your doctor/medical warnings (such as those sometimes packed with your prescriptions) tell you to stop. Next, if you're going to use hand sanitizer, make sure that when you apply it, your rub your hands as if washing them until all of the solution has dried up- when you fan your hands or blow on them to make the solution dry faster, you're actually making it ineffective by causing it to dry up too fast and not giving it a chance to kill the tougher bacteria. Also, you should choose washing your hands over using hand sanitizer whenever possible- handwashing is still the most effective method of controlling the spread of pathogens, so use some soap and warm water (as hot as you can tolerate for the duration of the wash), work the soap into a nice lather up to your wrists, make sure to get under your fingernails with the soap because they make wonderful hides for some of the nastiest bugs, then rinse off with the water travelling down towards your fingertips, touch anything that need be touched with your elbow if possible, and use the paper towel you dried your hands with to open the door before canning it on your way out. Finally, if you've got sores, don't pick at them. The reasoning here is that Staphylocaucus and its steroid abusing brother MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph. Aureus) just LOVE open sores, and tend to get transferred- almost injected- into them whenever you turn a pimple or a scab into an open sore again- brought in from under your fingernails, especially after you've picked at your nose.

Now, next on our list is Viruses; I'm not going to be doing much talking about Swine Flu because the data I've reviewed thus far indicates that H1N1 is even less dangerous than the average seasonal influenza, however I will tell you how to avoid (or at least drastically lower your chances of) getting the flu or whatever other viruses are floating around. Note that I'm talking from experience here- I successfully made it all the way through both halves of last flu season without so much as the sniffles. The first, and quite possibly most effective, step you can take is to start carrying your own pen with you everywhere you go. Most people are caught off guard by this, but seriously think about how many times each day you have to put your signature on something- a contract, a credit card receipt, a document- and now imagine how many people have touched that borrowed pen before you, knowing full well that at least one was probably sick, sneezed, coughed, or snotted into their hands, and then never washed them. The casheir's pen is possibly the filthiest object in any given store, and during the flu season, it surely becomes a virus magnet. In fact, any object, such as a doorknob, handrail, arcade controller, or even a popular book in a bookstore can become a trap waiting to spring. If you couldn't avoid exposure to one of these 'hot spots' by nudging the door open with your foot, shoulder, or elbow, or couldn't resist the urge to grab onto the handrail, then the best course of action to take is to duck into the next bathroom you run across and wash your hands- taking care not to touch your face until after you've washed up, as that's usually the port by which the virus enters. If a bathroom isn't immediately available but some hand sanitizer is, go ahead and use that- just be sure to rub your hands together until it dries up. Finally, encourage yourself and others to sneeze into their shoulders, upper arms, the bends in their elbows, or thick tissues instead of their hands, because sneezing into your hands is little short of just shoving your hands in a big bowl full of virus and then resuming normal activity in society.

Another wonderful tool to fall back on is vaccinations. Every year, the appropriate officials review the data to predict what flu strains are likely to be the dominant strains that year and then create and supply the appropriate vaccines to clinics, hospitals, health departments, and even pharmacies in some cases. If you have regularly contact with the sick, the elderly, the very young (I'd reckon about 8 to 10 and younger), regular smokers, or work in a high-contact or high-traffic area like an airport, a wal-mart, or anywhere that you lend pens to people, you should definitely get vaccinated to help avoid the spread of the flu. The part about vaccinations that people don't usually know is that you should actually get two vaccinations through flu season- one in early season and one in late season- because the flu is a highly mutation-prone virus, and by the time late season rolls around, a different virus may be the dominantly spreading virus, thus allowing you to catch the flu twice or despite a vaccine.

Now, there are people that insist that vaccines are bad for you, and I can assure you that, based on our current understanding, vaccines are perfectly okay and you should get them for you and your kids to prevent quite serious illness. You may have heard an argument that there's no point in getting vaccinated for something that's been declared eradicated in your country, but with international travel now a very common staple of our global society, we're seeing a resurgence of viruses that we had successfully starved to death in our country, but not in others (See: Measles). In other cases, we're facing a more constant threat of viruses or bacteria we haven't eradicated, such as those bacteria/viruses which cause meningitis, the Clostridium Tetani bacteria (AKA, the bug that causes Tetanus, 'Lockjaw', etc.), and the Hepatitis Viruses. Vaccines do not cause 'evolutionary immune system stupidity' (the argument that getting vaccinated instead of getting sick will cause the genetic code for our immune systems to be inadequate for future forms of the virus or other similar scenarios) in later generations simply because getting vaccinated IS getting exposed to the virus, albeit a very weak, inactivated, or dead form of the virus, which is roughly the same thing as what specialized white blood cells will provide your immune system with to make antibodies for in a non-vaccinated scenario. Vaccines are also safer these days, as we've learned our lesson from Guillon-Barre syndrome, though you should be aware that there is no medical treatment that is without risks. Finally, vaccines absolutely do not contain government mind-control solutions, nanomachines, or chips. I should know, being th- GOD BLESS AMERICA or else.

Prescriptions and You: Staying safe on your pharmaceuticals and using them to their full effect

Okay, so you may be asking yourself why I'm writing on this particular topic- it seems pretty idiot-proof, right? "Just take your stuff as prescribed, don't deviate, you'll be fine," you might mentally recite. Well, that's true, but it's not the whole truth. Pharmaceutical drugs, even when you take them exactly as prescribed, can open up a number of very dangerous complications for you- particularly if you allow yourself to remain unaware. Not only can pharmaceuticals pose an unknown hazard to your well-being (irony, innit?), but there are also measures that you could or should take when taking your prescription that could lessen side-effects or help the drug be more effective at doing it's job. Even more noteworthy is that some drugs may interact with common over-the-counter drugs and cause problems- sometimes quite serious- for you. Unfortunately, these important bits of information tend to fall through the cracks a lot more than they really should these days. So, to inform you of what to- and how to- educate yourself on your prescriptions, I'm writing this article.

First, we need to discuss what's important- that is, what is the information you should know about your drug? Instead of bombarding you with a huge, bland list that I'd otherwise recommend that you scribble down on a piece of paper next time you're about to go see your doc, I'll give you something a bit more user friendly, as well as cheesy. I'm giving you a mnemonic- SAFER.

S is for Special considerations. What this is about is asking if there are any activities- vigorous exercise, operating vehicles or machinery, staring at flashing lights, et cetera- that you need to avoid, any extra steps that you should take (such as drinking more or less water), or if there are any situations that should make you particularly cautious about this drug- such as liver/kidney disease, pregnancy, other ongoing diseases or changes in health, and other prescriptions that you might be taking. Side-effects also fall under this category. Feel free to subtract or add to this list as is specific to you. The reasons you need to know about this are that pharmaceuticals can sometimes agitate, cause, or be completely inappropriate for, some conditions. This is especially true for pregnancy, which can make the taking of some prescriptions highly unsafe. Do note that if you do have an ongoing condition such as an allergy to a drug or food, a disease like diabetes, an ongoing pregnancy, you may want to look into obtaining a 'medic-alert tag'.

The number of things that sit in this category is practically infinite, ranging from giving false positives on drug tests to turning your skin blue. Don't worry as much about memorizing these- your physician will usually be able to tell you about these considerations when prompted to if he didn't tell you before.

A is for All drugs, pharmaceutical, over-the-counter, and recreational.

Sometimes, as with epinephrine and cocaine (You know who you are), some drugs- prescribed or not- just do not mix. A number of different things can occur, but more commonly you'll see: a blocking of intended effects, the two (or more) drugs acting together to create an effect greater than the sum of their parts, drugs acting together to create a greater effect than the single drug could have, the drugs interacting to create a completely unintended or unexpected effect, and/or one drug allowing another to be considerably more effective. I know this doesn't sound dangerous, but all one needs to do anymore is point to a picture of Heath Ledger. It killed him, and it can kill you. If you're legally taking prescription drugs, or if you plan on or might take recreational drugs- this DOES include tobacco (cigarettes, chew, dip, whatever, it's all nicotine) and especially alcohol- you need to state them to your doctor so he knows to warn you against taking certain drugs while on that medication. Your physician may even go so far as to completely change what drug they plan on prescribing you based on this information.
One more very important thing to remember is to ask about over-the-counter drugs. A lot of people don't even think twice about it, but you could be taking a serious risk with your well being by not checking to see if the over-the-counter drug you're looking at is safe to take with your prescription. As things are unpredictable, I'd like to point out that even if you can't ask your doctor, you can ask a pharmacist at any drug store, and they'll be able to tell you if it's safe, and if it's not, provide you with alternatives.

F is for Freebie, as in, adjust this one according to your own specific needs and considerations (such as, but not limited to: pregnancy, foreign travel, on-the-job duties).

E is for Emergency Considerations
Some drugs can cause unique complications for both yourself when attempting to medicate for a known problem- such as hypersensitivity (the infamous 'peanut allergy' where someone's deathly allergic to something) or asthma- as well as for EMS and the emergency department. Drugs can either complicate an existing problem or create an entirely new one on their own- especially if care providers, unaware that you take a certain drug, end up giving you something that would cause a fatal or harmful reaction. A wonderful example of this are beta-blocker drugs, often used to help control blood pressure and heart rates. If you're on beta-blockers and have an asthma attack, you could end up hitting your albuterol inhaler multiple times with little to no change in your condition. That's because, as seen in the 'A' section, the beta-blockers actually block the sites in your nervous system where the albuterol 'plugs in' to ease your asthma attack. This could obviously cause very serious problems, so you need to discuss the possibility of this drug to contribute to an emergency with your physician and, if it's deemed necessary, even carry readily accessible information on you that you take that drug.

R is for Red Flags
There may be times where it will be absolutely necessary that you stop taking a drug right away, maybe even seek immediate medical attention. These sorts of things may not even be listed on your drug's typical warning labels- though it's still worth looking at- but listed as sneaking suspicions in medical journals. Make sure that you ask your doctor if there are any 'alarm signs', such as a sudden fever or bouts of an especially fast heart rate, that you need to be aware of to tell you that you either need to stop taking the drug right away or need to seek medical attention to be seen if it's still safe, if not both. Be familiar with them as long as you're taking that prescription.

Now, let's talk information resources. The first place you go, where you get your prescription, is also your best resource- your physician. When you first go to your doctor with your complaints and he prescribes you something, take the time to ask him about it. He knows these things, and he's probably read up on it, otherwise he'd have no business prescribing it to you. Most doctors will resist the urge to bolt out of the room and see the next patient long enough to answer any questions you may have, so don't be intimidated by his hurry to leave or brief, sharp answers. I'm not saying "be rude", and mind that some drugs are perfectly safe, but don't let their rush deny you the vital education you need when taking a prescription.

A good resource, possibly even better than your doctor, is your pharmacist. No matter the drug store, they have to have a licensed pharmacist on board or they're not legal to be filling prescriptions. Just ask to speak with them, and ask away. This is especially convenient if you feel you need an over-the-counter drug, and your physician is, indeed, still a physician, and thus unavailable to answer your questions without an appointment.

If all else fails, and even if you did ask, I'd recommend doing research online or in a physician's desk reference (commonly abbreviated PDR). You're likely to run into a good deal of junk data, but you should also be able to find valuable little nuggets of information that you otherwise wouldn't have learned. Just google or look up the name of your prescription, pick a website (if you're online. I, personally, have no preference as far as these sorts of websites go,) and read up. Easy as that.

Finally, a few quick notes:
-Take your meds as prescribed unless told otherwise.
-If you're on antibiotics, finish them! (unless told otherwise)
-If you're on drugs to control a condition or infection like Tuberculosis, Malaria, or HIV, do NOT discontinue use. It can and does make these get big, ugly, and grow bigger teeth.