Who are the idiots, the researchers trying to stay on top of things or the people spreading the diseases?

Both

Why are the researchers idiots?

Well lets see, you HAD to know that the bacteria was going to mutate DECADES ago. And people sat on it until this superbug formed. Researchers should have been working diligently for the last 10 years to figure out a solution for this problem.

You're not going to prevent all diseases from spreading. The responsibility lies with the general public to protect themselves, as well as the scientific community to develop solutions for inevitable problems, like communicable and sexual diseases.

Perhaps the scientists aren't idiots though, and they purposely planned this to eradicate a good chunk of the world's population.

Michael, and thinking like yours is the reason we are at this point. "Yes, this is a completely preventable infection if you are willing to modify your lifestyle. But instead of taking personal responsibility I'll just wait for someone else (researchers) to solve my problem. As far as those wingbats, how dare they expect me to be responsible for myself." Remember that when you vote.

well said johnr123

TecKnowlege, So researchers are to be at the beck and call of people who practice irresponsible behavior?

For lack of knowledge people perish, man will always be his worst enemy.

No human can stand being proactive for too long, unfortunately!

When things are going well they (people) always drop the ball.

Nature's law of diminishing returns - mutated bacteria are able to become resistant more quickly to each new generation of antibiotic. Each new generation of antibiotic requires more research, more money, and more time to develop and test than the last. Each new antibiotic has more toxic side effects, until the medicine becomes as destructive as the disease which it (almost) cures.

TecKnowlege, So researchers are to be at the beck and call of people who practice irresponsible behavior?

I'm sorry, but not all communicable diseases are not induced by "irresponsible behavior". VD isn't the only disease that is becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Bacteria are extremely interesting. It's a constant cat and mouse with some of them, us trying to anticipate their mutations, how to react to it, trying to plan against it. Bacteria becoming resistant is just an ugly fact of life, no matter how advanced we get. Some bacteria "acquire resistance by getting a copy of a gene encoding an altered protein or an enzyme like beta lactamase from other bacteria, even from those of a different species." This is why some bacteria can actually be eliminated while others just adapt to our antibiotics, even if they never have before.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY doubt that these doctors just sat on their butts and watched twiddling their thumbs. The article states that they were aware that this could occur and were monitoring it. From just five minutes of googling I've come across numerous scientists working on ways to try and get the upper hand on several different bacteria. Some bacteria, we are ahead. Others, such as this strain of gonorrhea, are getting the upper hand. It all depends on the bacteria. Why it's resistant, what has mutated. How in the world can you guess that right 100% of the time? I don't think it's possible for the human race to be ahead of every single strand of bacteria. I didn't see anything that states they aren't trying their best and are deserved to be called "idiots" who "should have been working harder." Since you know what they should be doing, why don't you go into their labs and show them how it's done? Solve the problem for them since you know so much and they're just "idiots."

So does this mean the TSA will change their latex gloves between molestations or are we going to see little kids getting this infection from a forced stazi screening grope? A very good question for the one person who could end the filthy TSA molestation at any time, King Obama.

@TekKnowledge

Exactly who pays for all of this Research???? Tax Dollars! Folks these days don't want tax increases for these social programs...

I guess safe sex is not an option?

@TekKnowledge

Exactly who pays for all of this Research???? Tax Dollars! Folks these days don't want tax increases for these social programs...

I guess safe sex is not an option?

Refer to post 1.5.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY doubt that these doctors just sat on their butts and watched twiddling their thumbs. The article states that they were aware that this could occur and were monitoring it. From just five minutes of googling I've come across numerous scientists working on ways to try and get the upper hand on several different bacteria. Some bacteria, we are ahead. Others, such as this strain of gonorrhea, are getting the upper hand. It all depends on the bacteria. Why it's resistant, what has mutated. How in the world can you guess that right 100% of the time? I don't think it's possible for the human race to be ahead of every single strand of bacteria. I didn't see anything that states they aren't trying their best and are deserved to be called "idiots" who "should have been working harder." Since you know what they should be doing, why don't you go into their labs and show them how it's done? Solve the problem for them since you know so much and they're just "idiots."

oh, well that isn't my specialization. I did not go to school for it. They have the education, they need to figure it out.

And I freely conceded that these researchers could be intentionally dropping the ball in order to practice eugenics.

That's the thing I'm trying to point out. You didn't go to school for it, they did. So how can you possibly proclaim that they're not doing anything and are idiots? Or that they're sitting on their butts to make a scare and money? Just how would you know this isn't just a really tough strain of bacteria? Do you realize how complex bacteria/antibiotics are? Here's a small paragraph detailing the some basics to drug resistant bacteria and even a possible breakthrough on curing it:

When this molecular tag is added by a protein called RlmN, it facilitates the proper functioning of the bacterial ribosome -- a gigantic macromolecular machine that is responsible for making proteins that bacteria need to survive. Many classes of antibiotics bind to the ribosome, disrupting its function and thereby killing the bacteria. The Cfr protein performs an identical function as the RlmN protein, but it adds the molecular tag at a different location on the same nucleotide. The addition of the tag blocks binding of antibiotics to the ribosome without disrupting its function.

"What had perplexed scientists is that the locations to which RlmN and Cfr add molecular tags are chemically different from all others to which tags routinely are appended, and should be resistant to modification by standard chemical methods," Booker said. "What we've discovered here is so exciting because it represents a truly new chemical mechanism for methylation. We now have a very clear chemical picture of a very clever mechanism for antibiotic resistance that some bacteria have evolved."

Booker also said he believes the next step will be to use this new information to design compounds that could work in conjunction with typical antibiotics. "Because we know the specific mechanism by which bacterial cells evade several classes of antibiotics, we can begin to think about how to disrupt the process so that standard antibiotics can do their jobs," he said.
-Penn State (2011, April 29). Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have evolved a unique chemical mechanism, new discovery reveals.

That's an example from a study on drug resistant bacteria. You make it sound like solving the puzzles of anti biotic resistant bacterias is sooooo simple, and how could they not have figured it out. Did that seriously sound simple? And it's even a possible breakthrough on how to treat drug resistant bacteria, oh wait, I thought they weren't doing anything about drug resistant bacteria?

@mailman8

Bacteria usually become antibiotic resistant when people don't take the antibiotics appropriately.

This is mostly caused by not finishing the medications. Which allows the bacteria to develop an immunity to certain drugs.

That is how the process begins. Which is why people are told to finish ALL of their medication. People tend to stop when they think they are feeling better.

That is the major mistake.

You didn't go to school for it, they did. So how can you possibly proclaim that they're not doing anything and are idiots? Or that they're sitting on their butts to make a scare and money? Just how would you know this isn't just a really tough strain of bacteria? Do you realize how complex bacteria/antibiotics are?

You act as if there haven't been people who have profited off of fear-mongering in history. Or people who have intentionally infected people or chose not to cure people from illnesses that they have a known cure for (Tuskegee Syphillis Experiment, not that long ago). And I am somewhat familiar with biology at the cellular level, although not really qualified to speak on technical details of this. So I do understand your source text.

That's an example from a study on drug resistant bacteria. You make it sound like solving the puzzles of anti biotic resistant bacterias is sooooo simple, and how could they not have figured it out. Did that seriously sound simple? And it's even a possible breakthrough on how to treat drug resistant bacteria, oh wait, I thought they weren't doing anything about drug resistant bacteria?

They couldn't do anything about regulating the amount of antibiotics in food and the overuse of antibiotic drugs in general?

It would seem to me, that this is a responsibility of these people.

Again, unless they simply don't care, and are using this as the new form of eugenics, which could be true also.

Also note, I did say that people engage in risky behaviors are putting their life on 00 as well, because either these scientists are 1) practicing eugenics, or 2) have not come up with a solution, even though they knew about this problem with cellular mutation of bacteria for DECADES.

Makes me think of this song for some odd and strange reason. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMLmuPYv_Jo&feature=related

I do acknowledge that it's happened. I'm not blind, I realize there is some corruption in the medical field, especially when it comes to pharmaceuticals and insurance companies. The main one I can think of off the top of my head is the emerging issue with lime disease and the numerous loopholes people are encountering that are being exploited by their insurance companies and doctors.

However, I disagree with your notion that this issue is simplistic enough to be solved by now and the only reason why they haven't is one of two options. Why isn't "it's a really complicated issue that they have been working on and will continue to work on" a third reason? You're just so convinced these scientist are out to get us. And we haven't even been studying DNA for very long. It wasn't discovered that it has a definite structure till the 60's!

This is the first antibiotic resistant STD they have ever encountered, yet they are already creating measures against it as soon as they noticed it, seeing as they've been closely monitoring STD's, looking out for one that may be resistant. How quick do you expect them to act? For them to discover a way around the resistance? And as for the "they haven't done anything" scientists have been making huge strides in the field of fighting bacteria and studying it's DNA. I don't think there's this huge conspiracy amongst all people researching it to stall on finding a cure to something so complex so they can rake in profits.

There's a chance that's the conspiracy, I'll give you that. I just highly doubt it and think your expectations are way too high for how quickly cures are made.

As for the distribution, the people who are researching the disease are not the people who distribute anti biotics. I agree, our culture has been over medicated and it's coming back to bite us in the ass. We will never rid ourselves of bacteria. Some will get the upper hand, antibiotics or not. And as I've said, I just find it a lot more likely that bacteria do this naturally, that it's hard to keep up with, and that it's a never ending battle than a big ol plot by scientists who are out to get us.

People Remember, that you work for the GREATER GOOD 1st before any man or Government Entity.
When you make decisions that someone tells you to make and you know that it is the wrong decision although, you are unable to comprehend at the time whats occurring but you are creating the bad vibe.
That energy does not vanish but, it turns into an equal but opposite reaction.

Maybe we should reconsider Herman Cain's idea to build an electrified fence around the US, close all the airports, and put in a moat, with crocodiles. Plus, wear condoms 24/7.

Spybee

We are falling behind in discoveries of effective new anti-biotics, soon we will face our biggest health crisis yet, because certain strains of "super bugs" will evolve so rapidly and immediate, we will see a mass global population die-off, not seen since the plague. This will be worse for povern countries with dense populations. Also, the food industry is part to blame, feeding us anti-biotics in our meat and diary for years, this build up we have ingested has made anti-biotics less and less effective.

You are so right about that Spybee.

Medical Dispatch: Superbugs : The New
Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/11/080811fa_fact_groopman

Superbugs. The new generation of resistant infections is
almost impossible to treat. by Jerome Groopman August 11, 2008
...

Drug-resistant 'superbugs' hit 35 states, spread
worldwide

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/2010-09-17-1Asuperbug17_ST_N.htm

Sep 17, 2010 – Bacteria that are able to survive every modern
antibiotic are now cropping up in many U.S. hospitals and are spreading outside
the USA.

"povern countries" ?? what means "povern"? Perhaps it is a contraction of poverty-ridden. (pover'n)

I don't eat my diary, so if it is treated with antibiotics, no prob (unless the antibiotics can be absorbed through the skin when the book is handled.)

People don't understand antibiotics. Doctors and pharmacists need to take more time in explaining them when dispensing them to stupid or ignorant people.

I had the sniffles during a visit to my parents' house recently, and my dad said, "Take one of those antibiotics I have left over." People think that an antibiotic is some kind of a magic little fist that knocks down anything that bothers you. They think your illness takes another little punch each time you take a pill, so it's okay to just take one or two pills because you're just whittling away at your illness. That's not quite right, and antibiotics have NO effect on viruses. Therefore, you cannot take antibiotics to fight off a cold, unless maybe you're dealing with a bacterial sinus infection, which isn't really likely, and those require some really strong medicine.

People forget that bacteria don't go away as quickly as the symptons do, and you can't stop taking your antibiotics just because your symptoms went away. If you don't completely wipe it out, the surviving members of the bacterial strain just repopulate with a newfound resistance to that particular medicine. Ever hear, "That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger?" That's especially true of bacteria.

We're behind because pharmaceutical companies don't care. They only worry about developing addicting 'medicine' because that's where all the money is!

Styro, that's probably the number one errant human behavior that is going to lead to our extinction.

That's okay though. This planet needs to shake off the virus called humanity before it kills the host.

Coincidence? Nature saying "whoa"?

...or maybe the predictable result of antibiotic overuse that health officials have been warning us about for decades.

@ Andrew - I suspect another big problem is caused by people who don't finished a full treatment of antibiotics and let some of the little critters survive.

Realize that in some Third World countries, antibiotics are available as over the counter drugs and the prostitutes take them on a regular basis not only to cure but as prophylaxis for sexually transmitted diseases. Note that the resistant strain of gonorrhea was first found in the throat of a Japanese prostitute. While Japan is a country where antibiotics must be prescribed, I would not doubt that the resistant infection existed previously in a poor country and was imported to Japan. There would be far less research done of bacterial infections in countries like the Philippines for example, so the resistant strains would be less likely to be noticed there first.

Jherek -

Why the need to scapegoat poor countries?

I will bet you that industrialized countries use much more antibiotics than developing countries. I also know the beef industry is a huge consumer of antibiotics, and the US consumes more beef per capita than any other country, and the amount of beef consumed by people in industrialized countries far surpasses that of developing countries.

Why would you try to blame anyone, let alone the poor - who are in no way responsible?

It is not "scapegoating" poor countries! What a bunch of politically correct drivel!

If you don't think hookers, who are regularly exposed to STD's, taking antibiotics on a daily basis is not going to produce antibiotic resistant bacteria; then you'd best pop off to a college and take biology 101. We are talking about overuse of antibiotics in respect to gonorrhea here, not antibiotics being overused for viral head colds.

Oh I am being mean to the poor Third Worlders! Oh I am repressing them! Poor babies! (Sarcasm.)

Learn to think with facts instead of PC nonsense.

Learn to think with facts instead of PC nonsense.

Oh my. You don't know enough about "facts" to know that your post is pure hyperbole, so forgive me for not taking you seriously. You have no standing to lecture me on the use of facts.

...and funny that you think I should "pop off to a college". I'll just let you think about why that might be a silly thing to say. Going further would be too easy, and helping you see the error of your ways is inconsequential. Whether you do or not simply doesn't matter to me.

The planet isn't sentient. This is just mindless evolution at work.

You are one of those "horde". I doubt the planet is conspiring against anyone or any thing.

For the Horde!

Horde, horde!

And the irony is that, if you look at wheels460's other comments, he makes it crystal clear that he's an atheist!

Oh, and before I forget:

Go Horde!

Cool story, bro.

blade, good point....think i will change my name to "stan"............:)

Are you sure it isn't a cordyceps fungus? Many insect fungus can cause a change in behavior before the fungus kills the host. I am aware that insects are afflicted by microbes too.

yeah, that's actually a fungus, not a bacteria.

Well thanks for blowing up my Zombie conspiracy! Though, isn't there a relationship between fungus and bacteria?

Oh I am sure there is, I imagine that many bacteria help with the decomposition of organic materials to help feed the fungi.

However a bigger partnership I am unaware of. Perhaps I'll google it after some ice cream!

Natures way of trying to get humans to stop reproducing.

I thought that was Lady Gaga's job.

Tony,

Reproduction isn't the problem, people humping everybody under the sun like a bunch of dogs is the problem. Keep your dick in your pants or "in" your wife and you won't have a problem.

Msnbclies,

God made people as they are...which includes the desire to "hump everybody under the sun like a bunch of dogs". God also made drug resistant bacteria.

Whose side is "god" on?

I already know your answer, to which I say: it is what it is, despite your attempt to rationalize it in a way that fits your particular world view. Others can rationalize too...and in different, equally valid ways, which should indicate to you that your "god" simply does not exist or does not give two @!$%#s about what happens to life on earth.

who said anything about god. Not me. That must be your hang up. I thought evolution was a proven fact. god or evolution, doesn't change the fact that my statement is still true. There would be little spread of STDs if people "didn't hump everyone under the sun like a bunch of dogs" Most people don't do that, so that kind of makes your statement that god made people that why look a little stupid.

Andrew547....

I don't think Andrew said anything about God. However, I think your anti-religion bigotry showed through clearly.

I think he was saying that in the absence of a monogamous relationship (religiously sanctioned or not, heterosexual or not, etc.) people should be really careful about their sex partners and their own decisions regarding sex.

Why don't you try to stay on topic and and dispassionately discuss an article on its' merits rather than imposing your particular brand of closed-mindedness?

Cheers!

(Corrected)

Andrew547....

I don't think MSNBCLIES said anything about God. However, I think your anti-religion bigotry showed through clearly.

I think he was saying that in the absence of a monogamous relationship (religiously sanctioned or not, heterosexual or not, etc.) people should be really careful about their sex partners and their own decisions regarding sex.

Why don't you try to stay on topic and and dispassionately discuss an article on its' merits rather than imposing your particular brand of closed-mindedness?

Cheers!

Nothing wrong with humping everyone under the sun.

A sunburned posterior can be quite distressing.

Nothing wrong with humping everyone under the sun.

... if you want a disease or make a new one that we can't get rid of. Any one ever stop and think maybe then that's not quite a good thing to do with nature? Our natural selves... roll around in the great petri-dish of humanity with reckless abandon?

Maybe the best motto wasn't, "if it feels good, do it". Actually that is a good motto - the problem is most people's motto is, "if it's a new person do it." the drug and rash companies are going to love you.

Past: Take 2 of these

Present: QUARANTINE!

If it hurts when you pee, then you need to answer one question:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_5oCkpAkUk

That was philosophically useless.

No Steve, your philosophy is useless, not to mention it's going to get us all killed.

No, don't you get it? God put this new strain of bacteria here on Earth to punish us! Oh, woe is us! lol

I guess my timing is off as well :-)

Where do you think the problems started fool?

people are starving in Africa and other places because there are too many of these people that have been kept alive my modern science that should have died instead.

I think you have a very misguided conception of the real problem in 3rd world countries.

Maybe it is Santa Clause saying that... or Harry Potter or Samantha from Bewitched. Honestly... leave your fictional god out of an intelligent factual scientific problem that will be solved by men... not your fictional god. Oyyy

Never heard of Santa Clause, Harry Potter or Samantha from Bewitched saying anything about it. The bible however has plenty to say about it making your comparison rather weak.

Did you know that animals can get STD's too? Things like herpes, a cat immunity deficiency virus, chlamydia, IIRC, brucellosis, vibrio, trichomoniasis, there are so many!

Animals that have no concept of sex being "immoral"? Is that god punishing them for their sexual immorality? Well, I'll go teach the cat about the importance of being married first then. Don't want him to go to cat hell!

Jason

The point was god is just as real as Santa Clause or Harry Potter. The bible has no important baring on this topic or any other.

leeman1525,

The creator of all things is very real; the proof is all around us, and it always leads reasonable people to conclude that he exists. The problem is that people just refuse to acknowledge him because of personal issues, and so they distort their own reasoning in order to maintain a pretense that he doesn't exist. They'll even cling religiously to unproven ideas like evolution, even though it died at the prebiotic phase years ago. Here's just one tid-bit that demonstrates that:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC16343/

Which he are we suppose to reasonably conclude exists?

Steve

Evolution is one of the most proven theories in science today. When i look around i see no evidence that a creator exist. Everything around me can be explained. Also if i were to say that the earth was created by a being, which one would i choose? There are so many different gods to pick: Thor, Mars, etc. There is no way to know that your particular god is the real one. If i were to see enough proof for a god i would except them, but as of now there is no proof.

What would you accept as proof?

A face to face conversation would be a start. Myths subjected to the password effect for a couple of hundred years before they're even written down certainly aren't going to do it.

So why would STD's be a punishment for promiscuity if animals get them too? I still have yet to hear an answer to this.

And you do know it's possible to get STD's from your spouse, right? I know someone who's only slept with one person, and that was after she married him. She has herpes, caught it from her husband, who's been carrying it for years and still hasn't had an outbreak while she has had 3. Is she being punished for promiscuity for her husband?

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

leeman1525,

I specified a creator. Not a "god of thunder" or a "god of war". I'm talking about an eternal, omni-present spirit with unlimited power, who pre-existed the universe and brought it into existence. The creator himself possesses absolute existence as a part of his character. The concept of this god is universal...you probably remember becoming aware of such at some point in the past.

SonofMollyM,

A face to face conversation will definitely be forthcoming at some point for each of us. You might not want wait for that. In the meantime, your phrase "for starters" suggests that there is other evidence you would consider.

Have you ever actually researched the historicity of the Bible, or do you just blow it off as nonsense without any examination at all, just because it speaks of the supernatural? Some people assume that because they have never personally witnessed something, or because they don't personally understand it, that it can't be. There's nothing etched in concrete that declares reality to be limited only to our finite perceptions and reasoning. But when a group of people claim to be eyewitnesses to something extraordinary, but obviously don't profit from lying about it or seek any gain otherwise from the listeners, then we are compelled to pay attention and fully compare and weigh all corroborating evidence to see if it continues to make sense; in the case of the Gospel narratives, it does.

Get a good look at the Gospel according to Luke (NAS), for one example. If you'll study the greeting paragraph (the account was a letter to his friend Theophilos) you'll quickly conclude that there is no room for the idea that he was just blindly repeating rumors and myths. He wrote his account based on the eyewitnesses; he did a thorough investigation since he was not an eyewitness himself. If he was not telling the truth, then either the eye witnesses willfully lied (through conspiracy...explain that one) or he himself was willfully lying in print, even doing research into the Old Testament to back up the implications of fulfilled prophecy; the next question is "why would he do that?" Further study of the Bible will tell you which possibility is probable.

I'm finding more an more that people accept these "Christ Myth" theories like sheep, without ever having examined the scriptures closely themselves. The idea that these books were first written a few centuries after the fact, simply has no backing in evidence. The earliest copies of the NT that have been found go back to the second century. The originals would have been penned much earlier.

Do you realize how many religions fit that description (an eternal, omni-present spirit with unlimited power, who pre-existed the universe and brought it into existence.) for their god? And each of those religions have a different set of rules you're suppose to follow or else they'll go to their version of hell?

What about Islam? How can you say your bible is more valid than their koran when you each have the same amount of evidence. A history of your religion. People spreading it around. People saying they feel their god's presence. So you're saying that all these other religions lied about their own prophets, eye witnesses, etc, but yours didn't.

I don't find it possible to find "the one true creator" when there are probably thousands of options out there, all claiming something different. I find it more probable than people just create gods to suite their own psychological needs than for god to expect every human on the planet to eventually find Christianity (or whichever religion you think is right). And if they never find it and realize they're wrong, well that's too bad, you're going to hell. Because you should've looked harder.

Actually Sally, there are only four major religions that teach one God created the universe: Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism. Buddhism, Jainism, Shintoism reject this concept. Zoaster believed in one creator diety, but claimed he used intermediaries to accomplish creation. Hinduism has a great deal of confusion on the issue, as they have hundreds of millions of gods. There are yet other religions with their own views.

What about Islam? How can you say your bible is more valid than their koran when you each have the same amount of evidence

Not true. Christianity has far more evidence, and far more convincing evidence, but you'll never know that without investigating it for yourself. Once you see what's there, you'll conclude that even though there might be some problems with believing, the problems with unbelief are far greater. The resurrection of Christ is actually the best attested to and most irrefutable fact of history for those who are reasonable. Compare the Bible to reliable ancient historical texts, and you discover additional collateral support for that conclusion. Former agnostic Josh McDowell did, while he was trying to disprove the resurrection. He finally believed.

In Christianity, people spend eternity in security, not because they followed a set of rules, but because at some point in their lives they accepted the free (and I do mean free) gift of salvation that comes throught the person and work of Christ. It's free with no strings attached. Christianity is a relationship with God through Christ. In one moment of faith, God responds to that faith by regenerating the person and entering him into union with Christ. Even though God has expectations for his own, and disciplines them here on Earth when they get out of line, he doesn't throw them out of the family once they have been born. And yes, Christ is the only way of salvation, a way which, contrary to popular belief, has repeatedly been published throughout the world through all of history.

The doctor prescribed an antibiotic for my willy and he is all better now.

Yes

No. Condoms break, are forgotten, get removed or damaged during the act, have defects from the factory, get holes punched in them at the store by jokers, et al. IOW, keep those legs crossed and those wicks dry, kids.

Ah yes, the black clap. When you got it you were sent to an unchartered island off the coast of Nam and your family was told that you were missing in action