Overuse of antibiotics in livestock is linked to growing drug resistance in humans who consume the agricultural products, said Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), director of the National Health Research Institutes’ National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, who called for more government attention on the matter.
Su made the remarks at an international seminar on infection control held on Saturday in Taipei by the Infection Control Society of Taiwan.
Su said that infection control involves reining in the use of both antibiotics for human use and those for animal use. While the hospitals in the nation have been putting great efforts into infection control, antibiotic use on farms continues to affect human health, because the amount of antibiotics used in agriculture is eight times greater than that for medical use, he said.
Taking Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as an example, which is a bacterium that is resistant to certain antibiotics, Su said that despite some hospitals having done their part for infection control, the resistance rate of MRSA in general is still as high as 70 percent.
According to Centers for Disease Control data, the MRSA resistance rate in the US ranges from 34 percent to 58 percent, while it is 26 percent to 28 percent in the EU and 35 percent to 38 percent in Latin America.
Su lauded Cathay General Hospital’s work in controlling the MRSA resistance rate, which is the lowest in the nation at 50 percent.
The reason the hospital can achieve this relatively better outcome lies in its executive having control over dealing with pharmaceutical companies, who often have special relationships with infectious disease specialists in the country, he said.
Many of the hospitals exhibiting the worst infection control outcomes are in Miaoli, Greater Taichung, Changhua and Greater Tainan, where physicians have close ties with pharmaceutical companies and frequently prescribe last-line antibiotics, Su said. He added that the prescription of last-line antibiotics leads to the emergence of antibiotic resistance, necessitating stronger drugs, resulting in a vicious circle.
Antibiotics used in agriculture contribute to drug resistance in humans as well, he said. For instance, antibiotics in fish increase drug resistance in humans if the fish is cooked and eaten.
Su said that to be well managed and consistent, policy on the use of antibiotics should in the hands of the Executive Yuan.
Hospitals, agriculture sectors and communities must also cooperate for effective infection control, Su added.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
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The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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