Resistance genes traveling the microbial internet: down the drain, up the food chain?

Only a fraction of antibiotics are correctly used for treatment of infectious diseases in humans; more are used for treatment of farm and aquaculture infections, and in this case the share of infections preventable by hygienic measures is even larger. If we add up the huge quantities used unnecessarily in community medicine, and the many other uses, from growth promoters to cell culture additives, it is easy to understand why antibiotic resistance in the micro biome of human and animal hosts is on the rise, as might be the case for microbes living in waters and soil. Also, anyone that has unsuccessfully tried to find a nonanti bacterial soap on the grocery shelves is probably well aware that humans are imprudently at war with all microorganisms, not just pathogens, whether or not they are deemed to possess weapons of mass destruction [1].

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