October 25, 2013
A new PBS Frontline documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria brings to light the reach and magnitude of antibiotic resistance. Through first-hand accounts tracking personal brushes with so-called superbugs bacteria resistant to most known forms of antimicrobial treatment the documentary shows how the problem has catapulted the international medical community into crisis.
The entire documentary is now available to watch online.
CDDEP director Ramanan Laxminarayan was interviewed for the piece, saying the world is quickly entering a post-antibiotic era.
We are perhaps already in a world where a scratch could be deadly, if you happen to be someone who can t afford very expensive antibiotics and happen to live in a developing country. All of this is because of resistance. If we had effective antibiotics to treat infections, generally the antibiotics work really quite well. Infections like pneumonia are very easily treated with antibiotics. But when you don t have effective antibiotics, then it s a whole different story.
A complete edited transcript of the interview can be found here.
The documentary is yet another sign of increased media attention to a public health crisis that has been brewing for quite some time. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a Threat Report focused on antimicrobial resistance, and from November 18-24 the CDC will conduct their annual antibiotic stewardship awareness campaign, Get Smart Week. Boosting public recognition of the resistance problem through through smart documentary storytelling can only help efforts like the CDC s, which could also benefit from additional funding.
