One dose of antibiotics a year ‘raises risk of sepsis by 70pc’

hollydolly

hollydolly

SF VIP
Location
London England
A single course of antibiotics raises the risk of developing sepsis by 70 per cent for a year after taking them, a new study has revealed.

Experts found that the risk of sepsis, which is fatal in around a fifth of cases, increased with the number of antibiotic courses a person took.

Scientists from the University of Manchester analysed 250,000 NHS patients who developed sepsis between January 2019 and June 2022 and compared them with a group of 1.3 million people who did not.

Their research revealed that people who had taken a single one or two-week course of antibiotic tablets within the previous 12 months were 70 per cent more likely to develop sepsis than those who did not use them at all.

The risk increased with the number of times a person used antibiotics.

Those who took two or three antibiotic courses within the year were at 130 per cent greater risk, while those who took antibiotics four or more times were at more than triple the risk of developing sepsis.

The risk rose even further for those who had taken antibiotics within the last six weeks, with a single use leading to an almost four time increase in risk of sepsis, and four or more courses leading to a more than six-fold increase compared with someone who had taken none.

The scientists behind the study said the exposure to antibiotics and “adverse effects on the beneficial bacteria in the gut could lead to increased susceptibility to infection”.

Xiaomin Zhong, co-author and PhD researcher, said there may also be “underlying differences” in people’s immune systems that make them predisposed to having more infections.

There are around 250,000 cases of sepsis every year in Britain, with around 50,000 people dying from the infection - more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.

It can start with a minor bacterial infection, such as a simple cut or chest infection, and is hard to diagnose, with nondescript symptoms like drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, breathlessness and pain, among those that can take hold.

It occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts to the threat and begins attacking its own tissues and organs and requires emergency intervention, including fluids and antibiotics, otherwise it can cause multiple organ failure and death.

More here
 

hollydolly said:
Experts found that the risk of sepsis, which is fatal in around a fifth of cases, increased with the number of antibiotic courses a person took.
Click to expand...

The way it is stated isn't very enlightening. Assuming antibiotics are prescribed for bacterial infections, what kind of controls could they use for a study like that, do they have people with untreated infections to compare to? Did they give courses of antibiotics to healthy people to compare to? Otherwise it just sounds like they see that people that have lots of infections are more likely to have a fatal one?
 
HoneyNut said:
The way it is stated isn't very enlightening. Assuming antibiotics are prescribed for bacterial infections, what kind of controls could they use for a study like that, do they have people with untreated infections to compare to? Did they give courses of antibiotics to healthy people to compare to? Otherwise it just sounds like they see that people that have lots of infections are more likely to have a fatal one?
Click to expand...
did you click on the link to read the full story ?
 

Last edited:
Thank you for the warning, Holly. We have to quit overusing antibiotics if we don't want to go back to the 1900's where huge numbers of people died of the flu and TB every year.

For forty years I've listened to people with colds say they've gone to the doctor and insisted on antibiotics because, "that's the only thing that works for me," not admitting that they were probably about to get over it anyway.

My son almost died of pneumonia last year because his body wasn't responding to even the strongest antibiotics. His whole generation is going to be like that pretty soon if people don't wise up.
 
Della said:
Thank you for the warning, Holly. We have to quit overusing antibiotics if we don't want to go back to the 1900's where huge numbers of people died of the flu and TB every year.

For forty years I've listened to people with colds say they've gone to the doctor and insisted on antibiotics because, "that's the only thing that works for me," not admitting that they were probably about to get over it anyway.

My son almost died of pneumonia last year because his body wasn't responding to even the strongest antibiotics. His whole generation is going to be like that pretty soon if people don't wise up.
Click to expand...
Oh dear, I'm sorry your son was so poorly Della... Our doctors have severely cut back on prescribing antibiotics in the last few years... for the very reason you state.

I have never requested antibiotics for myself.. but on the rare occasions I have, its because the Doctor has suggested them.. and I feel any Doctor who just gives into a request for antibiotics, without a real reason, needs retraining..
 
Last edited:
StarSong said:
...Most doctors have become very reluctant to prescribe antibiotics, just as you stated @hollydolly...
Click to expand...
The more serious problem for we humans is primarily in the vast unregulated third world where anyone can buy medicines at pharmacies without a prescription. For decades, ordinary poorly educated people have been ignorantly obtaining antibiotics for medical issues as head cold virus infections that actually do very little in helping fight those diseases.

Instead using antibiotics increases the rate of evolving viruses that are immune to the antibiotics. Accordingly pharmaceutical companies and their vendors ought to only sell products to countries with regulated pharmacies or directly to approved hospitals or doctors. Additionally news stories as this ought to be regularly run in the Third World to show there is a price to pay for consuming such important drugs like candy as though there are not consequences.
 
David777 said:
The more serious problem for we humans is primarily in the vast unregulated third world where anyone can buy medicines at pharmacies without a prescription. For decades, ordinary poorly educated people have been obtaining antibiotics for medical issues as head cold virus infections that actually do very little in helping fight those diseases.

Instead using antibiotics increases the rate of evolving viruses that are immune to the antibiotics. Accordingly pharmaceutical companies and their vendors ought to only sell products to countries with regulated pharmacies. Additionally news stories as this ought to be regularly run in the Third World to show there is a price to pay for consuming such important drugs like candy as though there are not consequences.
Click to expand...
All true. Not to mention the extraordinary amount of preventative antibiotics given to livestock.
 
StarSong said:
I can't remember the last time I took antibiotics but know it's been at least 6 years, perhaps over a decade.

Most doctors have become very reluctant to prescribe antibiotics, just as you stated @hollydolly.

p.s. The article you cited is behind a paywall:
One dose of antibiotics a year ‘raises risk of sepsis by 70pc’
Click to expand...
Here's the article in it's entirety Star...


A single course of antibiotics raises the risk of developing sepsis by 70 per cent for a year after taking them, a new study of NHS patients has revealed.
Experts found that the risk of sepsis, which is fatal in around a fifth of cases, increased with the number of antibiotic courses a person took.
Scientists from the University of Manchester analysed 250,000 NHS patients who developed sepsis between January 2019 and June 2022 and compared them with a group of 1.3 million people who did not.

Their research revealed that people who had taken a single one or two-week course of antibiotic tablets within the previous 12 months were 70 per cent more likely to develop sepsis than those who did not use them at all.
The risk increased with the number of times a person used antibiotics.

Those who took two or three antibiotic courses within the year were at 130 per cent greater risk, while those who took antibiotics four or more times were at more than triple the risk of developing sepsis.

The risk rose even further for those who had taken antibiotics within the last six weeks, with a single use leading to an almost four time increase in risk of sepsis, and four or more courses leading to a more than six-fold increase compared with someone who had taken none.

‘Immune system differences’​

The scientists behind the study said the exposure to antibiotics and “adverse effects on the beneficial bacteria in the gut could lead to increased susceptibility to infection”.
Xiaomin Zhong, co-author and PhD researcher, said there may also be “underlying differences” in people’s immune systems that make them predisposed to having more infections.

There are around 250,000 cases of sepsis every year in Britain, with around 50,000 people dying from the infection - more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.

It can start with a minor bacterial infection, such as a simple cut or chest infection, and is hard to diagnose, with nondescript symptoms like drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, breathlessness and pain, among those that can take hold.

It occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts to the threat and begins attacking its own tissues and organs and requires emergency intervention, including fluids and antibiotics, otherwise it can cause multiple organ failure and death.

It comes after Dame Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), called on the public to “treat antibiotics with respect” last week amid a surge in prescriptions and resistant infections.

Surge in prescriptions​

A post-pandemic resurgence in contagious diseases such as Strep A led to an 8.4 per cent increase in antibiotic prescriptions in 2022 compared with 2021, with 58,224 infections resistant to treatment.

Using the World Health Organisation’s standard measure for drug use, UKHSA said there were 17.4 daily doses of antibiotics per 1,000 people throughout 2022, suggesting around one million people were taking an antibiotic on any given day, on average.

There are hundreds of different antibiotics and they are among the most common type of medication prescribed on the NHS, treating a range of conditions, including respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, skin conditions, and sepsis.

Dr Colin Brown, lead for antimicrobial resistance and sepsis at UKHSA, said the data was “increasingly highlighting the complex interplay between socioeconomic status, underlying medical conditions and sepsis risk”.

“Our research has found that some people were more likely to die from sepsis compared to others, including those in the lowest socioeconomic groups, and that those who need to take antibiotics more regularly are also at greater risk,” he said.

“This may be due to underlying differences in their immune status or conditions that predispose them to repeat infections.”
The study found that one in five of the sepsis infections were acquired within the hospital, but that the risk was twice as high if the patient developed it in the community.

Risk factors​

It also revealed what other health factors were likely to increase the risk of sepsis.
For example, the risk for people with cancer was more than double those without, while patients with chronic liver disease and chronic kidney disease had an up to three-fold and six-fold greater risk respectively.

The life-threatening infection was also more common in people with a neurological disease, diabetes, immunosuppressive conditions, learning disability, or if they smoked or were under or overweight.

The scientists said people from the most deprived areas had almost twice the risk as those from the most privileged, and were 25 per cent more likely to die.
Analysing the number of deaths within 30 days of a sepsis infection, they said people over 80 and those from deprived backgrounds were more likely to die.

Dr Ron Daniels, founder and joint chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, said the study revealed the impact “that socioeconomic status and the presence of underlying illness” play in sepsis.

“As an intensive care doctor in inner-city Birmingham, I frequently see patients from underrepresented communities presenting late with sepsis,” he said. “However, we must remember that whilst the risk factors highlighted in this study are important, sepsis can still strike indiscriminately.”
 
I read recently this is especially true in nursing homes because older people's immune systems are already weak.

Antibiotics make everyone's immune system weaker, at least temporarily, because introduced antibodies signal your immune system to stop responding to pathogens while the medication takes over that job.

Antibiotics are a good idea for fighting pathogens our immune system doesn't recognize or isn't responding to. That was their original intent, but it's not how they've been used over the past 4 decades or so.
 
I think the article is written really poorly because it appears to misdirect everyone into thinking that antibiotics are the risk, when even the conclusions of the researchers are that it is the NEED for the antibiotics (underlying illness, poor immune function, etc) that are the risk factor.

And when I followed the link to read about sepsis that article sounded like to avoid sepsis you should treat infections promptly (presumably with antibiotics), and that if you develop sepsis you need to be treated with antibiotics.

So although subjects like overuse of antibiotics, resistant bacteria, and importance of gut microbiome are all good topics to explore, the main takeaway I see from the study is that antibiotics are freaking awesome and we are lucky to have them (and NOT the apparent message of the article that antibiotics will cause sepsis and you will increase your risk of dying of sepsis if you take antibiotics).
 
My most common use of antibiotics is for Lymes. I will take my chances with taking the antibiotic on that one. Lymes is a terrible disease if untreated.

My last antibiotic was preemptive and taken after dental surgery. I had enough pain and swelling with the antibiotic. I hate to think what it might have been without it.

It seems that doctors are trying to not over prescribe antibiotics these days, so when they say you need them, I would be a bit apprehensive to ignore their advice.
 
Antibiotics destroy the beneficial bacteria and immune system of the body.
Back when the aids plan-demic was going around, people were dying from the drugs, not a virus.
They were dying because the AZT and other toxic pharma drugs were destroying their immune systems.
I have known this truth for decades, since I was a kid, so it is nothing new or revolutionary to point out.

It is obvious. The same thing is widespread for many of the other so called diseases, and "viruses" etc.
Look at the definition of aids, i.e. auto immune deficiency syndrome. The immune system was being destroyed
by the drugs. The truth was right there in front of everyone's faces, yet many people continue to believe the nonsense.
 
StarSong said:
They also use them to fatten up livestock. It's often put right in their feed.

Lots of supporting documentation and studies including this one:
Weight gain by gut microbiota manipulation in productive animals - PubMed
Click to expand...
I thought they used steroid/growth hormone.

When I was a kid on my grandparent's farm, the vet came to vaccinate the herd only if three cows got sick. Then Gramps knew it was probably a virus and it was spreading. If it only effected a certain part of the herd, ones in the birthing pen for example, the vet only vaccinated those cows.

And if there was a bacterial infection, the vet treated only the affected cows. And so did the hoof-guy....bacterial infections almost always started on their feet. (all the cows walked through an antibacterial foot bath on the way to the milking stalls)

So they were pretty conservative back in the 50s and 60s. Maybe particularly at dairy farms, though, I'm not sure. Dairy owners always thought of their product as mainly for babies and children.
 
I recently had a wicked hellish sore throat, they did a couple throat cultures, one to screen for Strep and the other presumably to try to discover what I did have. I was prescribed an antibiotic right away, without knowing for sure if I even had a bacterial infection. The throat culture did not reveal the culprit, so I'll never know if the antibiotic was necessary or not. I don't like to take anything that screws up the flora & fauna of my digestive system, has a much broader impact than simply messing up bowel movements...
 
Nathan said:
I recently had a wicked hellish sore throat, they did a couple throat cultures, one to screen for Strep and the other presumably to try to discover what I did have. I was prescribed an antibiotic right away, without knowing for sure if I even had a bacterial infection. The throat culture did not reveal the culprit, so I'll never know if the antibiotic was necessary or not. I don't like to take anything that screws up the flora & fauna of my digestive system, has a much broader impact than simply messing up bowel movements...
Click to expand...
And I'm pretty sure today's antibiotics are quite a bit stronger than they were 10-20 years ago.

For a sore throat, I usually whip up something to gargle with. I'd only see a doctor if that didn't help. So far, I haven't ever had to.

"The throat culture did not reveal the culprit" - That's odd. And scary.

My son had a very aggressive infection in his knee when he was 5. I rushed him to the emergency room when his knee was almost as big as his head and he kept falling asleep. Specimens of the fluid they drew from his knee were sent to labs at Stanford, UCDavis, and UCLA, and none of them could identify it, so they named it after my son.
 
Nathan said:
The antibiotic I was prescribed was DOXYCYC MONO 100 MG., never heard of it but a Wikipedia article describes Doxycycline as a broad-spectrum antibiotic of the tetracycline class.
Click to expand...
Tetracycline is considered the safest antibiotic based on far fewer people having an allergic reaction to it.

And yeah, the advancement of antibiotics has more to do with broader-spectrum than strength. I stand corrected.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top