The global killer that is in your home: The next generation of superbugs

Humans are prone to two things – arrogance and ambivalence. Using those words certainly raises hackles, but when it comes to what is likely to wipe out humanity we have certainly shown a more than healthy dose of each at times. While some talk of humanity being wiped out by asteroids, a rogue political leader with nuclear weapons, or some truly bizarre Hollywood silver screen scenarios, the real killer of man is tiny bacteria – specifically superbugs. They won’t finish man off tomorrow, or next year, or even in fifty years, but they sure will begin making a dent in the population by the last quarter of the century according to some estimates.

What is most frightening about superbugs is we cannot see them on our countertop or lingering around the seat of the toilet. We have no idea if that industrial strength cleanser really killed the bacteria hiding out in our home or if it just made the porcelain sparkle. Maybe those antibiotics worked and maybe they didn’t. We think something so small couldn’t possibly hurt us, but we’re wrong. Perhaps worst of all – we made these superbugs. 

Bacteria is something we thought we tamed in the late 1800’s. Then again in 1940’s. In reality all we have done is get them really ticked off. Think of bacteria as a child. When it is young it may cry and drive you crazy, but with some soothing words and a binky everything can be calmed down. As the child grows and changes it may take soothing words and a cookie to return calm to a cranky child. As the child grows the cost of reigning it in also grows until one day the once cute child in Buster Brown shoes is a spike-haired tattooed teen with a load of body piercing and attitude that cannot be calmed by anything that used to work. Superbugs are created in much the same way. 

As we began identifying infections in the human body the first thing we did was find a way to treat them. If you have a cold take some antibiotics andVitamin C. An infection from a wound – get a shot and take a course of antibiotics for the next ten days. Anytime there is any type of bacterial infection we run to a chemical fix, and it is hard to not do that when it has always worked so well. We then progressed to antibacterial agents as a prophylactic treatment which added a whole new wrinkle to things. 

Seeing public restrooms with antibacterial soap of some sort is now the norm. Countless people carry their own personal hand sanitizers and similar products to keep that nasty

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