The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the largest of it’s kind in the U.S., released a report today saying that antibiotic use in the feed given to healthy livestock is creating drug resistant bacteria, that can make treating infections in people, most notably children, ineffective.
Each year, more than 2 million Americans develop antibiotic-resistant infections and more than 23,000 die from these infections, the academy said. And in 2013, the highest incidence of such infections was among children younger than 5, federal government statistics show.
"Children can be exposed to multiple-drug resistant bacteria, which are extremely difficult to treat if they cause an infection, through contact with animals given antibiotics and through consuming the meat of those animals," report author Dr. Jerome Paulson, immediate past chair of the academy's executive committee of the Council on Environmental Health, said in an academy news release.
This problem affects children because they are a more vulnerable part of our population and they are not the only population susceptible—pregnant woman and the elderly are also in danger. The lead author of the report, Dr. Jerome A. Paulson says that these findings support recent activism to regulate antibiotic use in livestock. He also says parents can have some agency in this matter.
Encouraging the appropriate use of antibiotics by doctors is important, said Haslam. Don't ask for antibiotics to treat a cold or other viral illness.
Paulson also said parents could buy beef, poultry, and pork raised without antibiotics.
The agricultural industry has fought regulations saying that it would be bad for business. That’s their argument in a nutshell. In this case, as with most, science and health should trump business—hopefully.