A Long-Term Consequence of Tainted Seafood

The general expectation is that, when a person has an infection, an antibiotic will remedy the problem. The danger is when the antibiotic proves to be ineffective. One possible reason why the antibiotic does not work is that the person has been ingesting a form of that antibiotic in low dose quantities and the body has built up a tolerance / resistance to that antibiotic. If that were to happen, precious time is lost and controlling the infection has increased in difficulty - severely.

How may a person be exposing himself or herself to antibiotics? It could be ingested through tainted food:

“…94 samples of Chinese catfish checked by Alabama since March, the state reports that 41 tested positive for fluoroquinolones, antibiotics banned in the U.S. for seafood. Of 13 more samples of species similar to catfish, including one called basa, five tested positive for the antibiotic. The exporting countries included Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

Eating seafood with fluoroquinolones can increase resistance to similar antibiotics used in humans to fight infections, according to the FDA.”

link: Drug-Tainted Asian Fish Slip Into U.S., States Find

The ” I ate it and didn’t become ill’ rationale is a hollow argument. The impact may not be immediate. The consequences of having ingested contaminated foods may be in the future, when you really need an antibiotic to function as it should - and it doesn’t.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]infections, antibiotics, tainted seafood, consequences, fda[/tags]