E. Coli on the Rise, Aided by Factory Farms, Antibiotic Overuse

E. coli is not going away anytime soon. As a matter-of-fact, U.S. food safety officials say the potential for dangerous E. coli bacteria is on the rise again with the potential greatest in spinach and other fresh foods. Since 2006, when an E. coli outbreak in spinach swept the nation, outbreaks of the bacteria have become more varied, likely because of the growing trend in raw fruits and vegetable consumption, which can harbor dangerous bacteria, HealthDay, reported in a syndicated story appearing in USA Today.

In the last two years, a variety of pathogens in food have killed at least three people, sickened more than 1,300 others, and touched nearly every state in the country as well as Canada, HealthDay reported. The problem is difficult to police because the food-surveillance system is outdated, under-funded, and overwhelmed by the emergence of mega-farms, mega-distribution centers, and mega-transporters, HealthDay said. “Before, it was just bad produce coming from one farm,” said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with Consumers Union.

Couple this with the overarching problem with infectious diseases which are now becoming more resistant to bacteria because of antibiotic overuse and abuse. We overuse or misuse antibiotics; bacteria mutate, changing just enough to ensure antibiotics have no effect on them and giving them a wide berth to spread with ever more power. Although tempting, preventative antibiotic regimes only worsen the epidemic and strengthen the bacteria. And while new drugs are emerging, it’s just a matter of time before super bugs will become resistant to them, too. In many cases, they have.

Antibiotic resistance is so pervasive that scientists now report having found evidence of drug-repelling E. coli in Arctic birds as remote as the polar ice cap. It seems migratory fowl that circumnavigate the globe along centuries-old flyways passed the bacteria. Scientists in Sweden traveled to vast regions of the frigid ice cap in search of species they hoped had been spared exposure to drug-resistant strains and were surprised to discover widespread antibiotic-resistant E. coli in Arctic-dwelling birds never previously exposed to the drugs. This study added credence to the notion that antibiotic resistance is global and no region is unscathed.

In addition to the spread of E. coli and the growing resistance of the infection to traditional medications, it seems that there is emerging data that the negative health effects of E. coli can remain for months and years later. It was believed that once we recover from a food-related contamination that we are healed and the illness is gone. Not so. According to recent research, these illnesses can have long-term, lasting effects that can either linger for months or years or can show up months or years after the original illness. As part of their studies, researchers found that some children who suffered severe cases of E. coli developed health problems later in life, such as kidney problems, high blood pressure, and kidney failure; the health problems appeared as late as 10 to 20 years later. The research also found people who suffered salmonella or shigella can find themselves suffering with arthritis later in life and, for those who exhibited mild campylobacter, a type of paralysis can strike following the initial complaints.

Scientists have unveiled a new weapon which could help speed up wound healing in diabetics - water.

Slowed wound healing, mainly due to damage to small blood vessels, can be a serious complication of the condition which effects more than two million sufferers in Britain.

According to researchers a form of "super-oxidised" water can accelerate healing by killing bugs more effectively than bleach - without harming tissue.

The healing of wounds is a problem for diabetics who do not have good blood glucose control or have circulatory problems.

The key ingredient of the product called Microcyn - which was presented at biomedical business conference Global Healthcare in Monte Carlo - is electrically charged atoms called oxychlorine ions which destroy viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Wounds of diabetics treated with the product and an antibiotic healed within 43 days on average - compared with 55 days for patients given the standard treatment of iodine plus an antibiotic.

Hoji Alimi, chief executive of the California-based developers Oculus, said human cells are spared because they are tightly bound together in a matrix.

He said: "Microcyn only kills cells it can completely surround."

The vital atoms are formed by exposing purified water to sodium chloride, reports New Scientist.

These kill microbes and viruses but are present in much lower amounts than in bleach which also contains a slightly different combination of ions - including large amounts of the highly reactive hypochlorite ion.

Despite containing 300 times less hypochlorite than bleach Microcyn killed 10 strains of bleach-resistant bacteria, according to a study.

Professor Eileen Thatcher, of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California, who carried out the research, said: "It may be that other unusual ions in Microcyn but not bleach are instantly lethal to bugs."

Mr Alimi has also found a way to stabilise the ions by making them react with and regenerate each other during storage so the fluid remains active for up to two years.

Microcyn was officially approved in the US for cleaning wounds two years ago but some physicians have also been using it off label to accelerate healing.

Dr Cheryl Bongiovanni, director of wound care at the Lake District Hospital in Lakeview, Oregon, has used Microcyn on around 1,000 diabetic patients with leg and foot wounds over the past 18 months.

She said: "When you spray it on you see the treated tissue 'pink up' and go beefy which is good because it means the oxygen supply has resumed."

Official phase II trials to test the product's wound-healing potential are currently taking place in the US and Europe.

Professor Andrew Boulton, of the Manchester Royal Infirmary who is conducting one such study, said: "It does seem promising. Hopefully it will confirm our initial good experience."

Tracy Kelly, care advisor at Diabetes UK, said 15 per cent of people with diabetes who develop foot ulcers eventually suffer amputations.

She said: "We would welcome any safe, effective treatment which could help hasten recovery."

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