When you get sick, you probably go to the doctor, hoping to get a quick prescription and be back on your feet in no time.

But what if we told you that those antibiotic regimens we all depend on will actually be the death of us?

Folks, it’s time for a quick science lesson.

When you get sick — and we’re talking just a casual illness here — it is likely caused by one of two major germ types: bacteria or virus.

Bacteria are single-celled, living organisms.

They are incredibly resilient to harsh environments, which is why they were around long before us and will be long after. They surround you and are mostly harmless. Some actually aid in functions of the body, like digestion.

However, a small percentage (less than 1%) of the bacteria population can make you sick. For sickness caused by bacteria, we take antibiotics. They stop the growth of bacteria and, after a period of time, end the illness.

The other most likely cause of sickness is a virus. Viruses are not alive, and they cannot survive without a host (that’s you). Unlike the benevolent bacteria, viruses are mostly harmful to your health.

Also unlike bacteria, viruses cannot and should not be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics will not be effective in staving off infection and may actually be more harmful to your body in the long run.

For viral infections, vaccines are the usual answer. The invention of vaccines has reduced instances of polio and measles, among others. (Try to think of the last time you met someone with polio.) Vaccines can also prevent the flu and various forms of hepatitis.

Unfortunately, symptoms of both types of infections are often incredibly similar: coughing, sneezing, fever, fatigue, etc.

Even worse, there are a handful of dangerous illnesses that can be caused by either bacteria or a virus, and when it comes to infections like meningitis or pneumonia, there’s not a significant margin of error for treatment.

Because of this, physicians have been known to incorrectly prescribe antibiotics for viral infections they will not cure. Next time you’re at the doctor, make sure you ask why you’re getting antibiotics. 

Doctors think “‘Just keep ‘em on antibiotics. It can’t hurt.’ Yes it can.”

Unfortunately, this misdiagnosis (and therefore the misuse of antibiotics) has led to widespread resistance to what was once an effective medicine.

Many physicians are now requiring blood or urine tests before prescribing antibiotics to be sure the infection actually is bacterial.

When the infection is bacterial, patients often misuse their prescription.

When your doctor tells you to finish your regimen of antibiotics even if you feel better, he means it.

Ending a regimen of antibiotics early actually strengthens the bacteria it is supposed to suppress. For most bacterial infections, it is better to not treat the disease at all than to treat it haphazardly.

Failure to complete the treatment according to the strict guidelines can lead to drug resistance.

Even if we did manage to correctly categorize every infection, it wouldn’t matter. The amount of antibiotics circulated through the livestock we ingest is enough to keep the resistance alive.

In 2014 alone, it was estimated that 80% of antibiotics in the United States were consumed by the animals we eat. Farmers feed antibiotics to their animals not only to protect from unsanitary environments but also to make them grow.

Check out this comparison between chicken sizes 50 years ago and chicken sizes just a few years ago:

More recently, we’ve even seen chickens grow to such abnormal sizes that their legs are unable to hold their weight.

They’re not the same class of antibiotics — these are allegedly regulated by the FDA — but they have the same effect when it comes to developing resistance in the human body once ingested.

Although most of us probably won’t argue with bigger cuts of chicken, it turns out that these enhanced animals are actually posing a significant problem for the human population.

Why are we taking this so seriously? Well, thanks to a few seemingly minor mistakes, our society created what I, and others, consider to be one of the biggest snafus in recent medical history.

Even if you haven’t been sick in years or haven’t filled a prescription for antibiotics in months, it’s time to listen up.

Antibiotic Resistance is Everyone’s Problem

Deaths from antibiotic resistance currently sit at more than 700,000 annually.

The World Health Organization expects that, if nothing changes, we will see 10 million deaths per year.

These won’t be deaths from mutated diseases we’ve never seen before.

In fact, if we don’t make some real changes in how our population ingests antibiotics, we’re going to see a dramatic rise in archaic diseases like tuberculosis, flu, and pneumonia.

Actually, we already are.

Cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are already appearing across various parts of Russia and are beginning to spread.

WHO estimates that one in five newly reported cases of tuberculosis in Russia is multidrug-resistant.

Just last year, a patient in the United States was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Medical history has never seen an epidemic of drug resistance like this one, and it’s spreading.

The more we ingest antibiotics, the stronger tolerance we develop to their effects. Soon enough, they will be entirely obsolete.

Those bacteria that we’re fighting against? They’re smarter than us and can evolve faster — they already are. Modern medicine is barely able to keep up with their rapid mutations.

Enter: CRE.

First reported in 2001, CRE (carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae) is now establishing dramatic presence in major American cities.

According to the CDC, current surveillance shows higher-than-normal levels in Atlanta, Baltimore, and New York City.

The most commonly known form of these bacteria is E. Coli, but there are other more obscure forms. The bacteria have evolved and are now able to produce an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics.

“We’re seeing more and more patients in the community with an e. coli kidney infection that we have no oral therapy to treat,” said Dr. Mary Hayden, an associate professor of pathology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “If CRE gets into the community and starts causing regular old urinary tract infections in otherwise healthy people, it will have a significant impact because we don’t have agents to treat those things.”

“The problem is so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine.” — WHO

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