Science: Antibiotic Resistance & You

Awesome video!

Over 15 years ago, I visited an excellent laboratory and watched bacteria become antibiotic resistant. You know how doctors say that if you finish your antibiotic prescription, you will be fine? Well, that’s not true.

So, I have been searching for a video that shows what I saw. It took forever, but I found a pretty good one here.

In the video below, the bacteria grabs the antibiotic resistant component (the little red things), adding it to itself. Now it has become antibiotic resistant. It’s a deliberate action, not accidental. So fast! It reminds me of a dragonfly grabbing a mosquito.

This is called horizontal gene transfer. It is only one of the ways antibiotic resistance happens.

You can tell your child that this is why your family does not use hand sanitizers.

After the lab visit, I stopped using all antibiotics — no antibiotic cream, no hand sanitizer, nothing. It turns out that one bacteria will develop multiple resistances after an exposure to ONE antibiotic. These resistances breed as fast as you see it on the video. The bacteria will also become resistant to antibiotics that they have NEVER seen! After only one exposure to a single antibiotic. It’s fascinating.

Around that same time 15 years ago, I was invited to join a Cybersecurity Working Group in DC (due to some non-Montessori background I have).

One day, I used the toilets at the Department for Homeland Security (DHS).

Well…. there was a big sign over the soap dispenser: NON-ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP. In other words, regular soap. No antibiotic cleaners added! They had to put this sign over the soap because all the employees knew the dangers of creating antibiotic resistance on their own hands.

I see schools and the rest of the US never got that message.

Your child will now know more than most doctors.