A very salient article, Julian.

But I think that as with human population growth and the achievement of sustainable societies, the re-establishment of disease and death-causing microbia is something that we are just not going to be able to deal with.

I feel that we are totally at the mercy of this phenomenon.

Perhaps there is a long-term positivity about it: a much-increased death rate could be just what we need to achieve a sensible stable population level and a sustainable planet.

A good place to start would be with a widespread education campaing to teach the people these two simple facts:

1) Colds, flus and many other common ailments are viral rather than bacterial infections.

2) Antibiotics don't work against viral infections. They don't do a damn thing - one might as well take sugar pills or a homeopathic dilution for all the good they will do you.

If you have a cold or other minor ailment DON'T ASK YOUR DOCTOR FOR ANTIBIOTICS. You have an immune system for a reason; it can easily take care of minor infections without any 'help' from your doctor. If you have a minor ailment and your doctor offers to prescribe you antibiotics without you requesting them (as has happened to me), ask him which cereal box he got his degree from and find a new doctor post haste.

Cheers,

Tony

Very cogent article.

Possibly what is needed here is some sort of imitation antibiotic that could be handed out to patients with viral infections who are demanding something to take. (You never know, but some of the imitation drugs might even cure the disease, such is the power of the mind).

We haven't had a decent pandemic since the spanish flu outbreak in 1919, so one is much overdue. As the author pointed out, it might even encourage people to take some elementary precautions.

We do need to more adequately staff our hospitals!
Nurses are literally run off their feet. trying to keep up with an impossible workload; and are therefore forced to take the very shortcuts, that contribute to and maintain these very problems!
There are antivirals like tamiflu, that work against flu and cold infections.
Antibiotics in animal husbandry is a major problem.
The cure for a golden staph skin infection, is a fortnight of sun, sea, sand and surf?
We used to air all bedding outdoors regularly!
The way to sterilize the wards, is with steam cleaners and proper isolation procedures.
Any bacterial infection, eventually needs warm blooded hosts and places to hide.
Something that could also be tried on resistant skin infections is the thirty second blast with liquid nitrogen, on the naked body.
Other previously untreatable infections, may respond to hypabaric oxygen! And this may be assisted by chelation therapy?
The Ganges is arguably the most polluted river on earth. Yet the Indians routinely bathe in it, and drink it, all without very much harm?
It turns out that there is a living anti bacterial life form in it, that gobbles up bacteria, even that which mutates regularly.
In a cleaner more pristine river system, the beneficial life form would simply starve and perish.
We are also discovering some marine biology, they may give us a whole new generation/spectrum of anti bacterial agents.
Even so, we must stop overusing what we have, given all that does is develop resistant strains.
Ditto not completing the prescribed antibiotic course.
Sore throats ought to be treated with an iodine based gargle first. And the old sulphur drugs, which were effective, were dropped in favour of, the new cure everything wonder drugs, like penicillin.
Apparently enough flour of sulphur to cover a threepenny bit, (adult dose) for around 7 days, clears anything.
[Particularly the room, whenever you needed to pass wind.]
Followed with a weeks worth of FRESH yoghurt.
Rhrosty.

I don’t see a problem here. Agenda 21 clearly articulates the hypothesis that humans are a blight on the planet. Why not let the planet decide?

We already have peak oil, peak food production, peak CO2 and peak population; why not just leave it all to the mythology of “Gaia” to decide for us?

It would be such a cruise to let bacteria and infections to do the hard yards. It would at the very least shut up the “Peak Everything” brigade. Halleluiah!

Oh, I forgot, terrorism is also doing its bit.

Naah, this is just another beat up. The bacteriologists have learned from the climatologists. To get funding you need scare the public witless.

I mean, seriously, Britain's Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, is a warmist. The Sun reports her as saying:

>>RESISTANCE to antibiotics is a “ticking time-bomb” that should be ranked alongside terrorism and CLIMATE CHANGE.

That’s the view of the UK’s Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies, who says we need to develop new drugs – and fast – or death rates could soar.>>

(Capitalisation added)

(http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4836903/Dame-Sally-Davies-We-need-new-drugs-to-stop-infections-becoming-killers.html)

Now how can you believe anything a warmist says?

Spindoc has the correct sceptical approach.

On a more serious note:

Rhrosty

>It turns out that there is a living anti bacterial life form in it, that gobbles up bacteria>>

The life form is called a bacteriophage. It's a virus that attacks bacteria. Phage therapy was pioneered in the Soviet Union and is still used in Russia. You can read about it:

Here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21799534

and

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC90351/

and:

http://www.bacteriophagetherapy.info/ECF40946-8E2F-4890-9CA6-D390A26E39C1/Pros%20and%20cons%20of%20phage%20therapy.html

I'm confused, Julian. How can we all be killed by resistant microbes when -- according to you -- we're all going to be killed by:

* Carcinogenic chemicals (18/01/2013)
* Major famines (27/11/2012)
* Wild weather resulting from climate change (5/11/2012)
* Running out of water (8/10/2012)
* Expanding dead zones in the ocean (24/08/2012)
* Farm clearances (26/07/2012)
* General human awfulness (22/08/2011)
* Asian bees (24/02/2011)
* Overgrazing (28/09/2009)
* Selling off our natural gas (27/08/2009)

I can understand the appeal of catastrophism -- it gets people's attention and makes you sound solemn and important, without the obligation to actually make verifiable predictions -- but really, aren't you taking it a bit too far? Only one apocalypse per customer, please.

Jon J.
don't fret about dying from some exotic decease, we're already getting killed off by education or rather dumbing down.

Thanks Steven.
I understand, we may also be developing some interesting if relatively benign bacterium, that may be useful in controlling some rather deadly viruses? Or perhaps that approach is largely limited to the carriers of some nasty pathogens?
Also may be able to use hollowed out benign viruses, to apply some new and interesting gene therapy; natural immunity?
Some of which may be transferred down the generations?
Take care. Rhrosty.