PureInsight | October 1, 2001
In 1928, Fleming discovered the first antibiotic ever found, penicillin. At that time this discovery was considered a significant milestone in medical history. With the discovery of antibiotics, many medical miracles occurred and many diseases were cured: pneumonia, meningitis, puerperal fever, septicemia, tuberculosis, and many others. Many people began to think that disease could be conquered. Over half a century has passed since 1928. Did antibiotics bring us what people wanted -- hope for eradicating disease?
The facts are far from what people hoped. Today, in the 21st century, the growth of drug-resistant bacteria strains is astonishing.
The cure and reappearance of the type A streptococcus that causes scarlet fever is a typical example. It shows that the successful suppression of one bacterial strain can trigger the rise of another one. In the 1960s, type A streptococcus seemed to be disappearing, and scarlet fever could no longer be found in western countries. However, as type A streptococcus was disappearing, type B was making its appearance. It turned out to be a strain that particularly affects newborns. In 1980, it caused 75% of all deaths among infants less than two months of age. In the meantime, type A streptococcus silently mutated and spread, making its reappearance in the late 1980s. The toxicity caused by this new type A streptococcus can match that of toxic shock. It resists all drugs except a very large dose of penicillin.
The emergence of various drug-resistant strains has increased the chances of obstinate infectious diseases and conditional pathogenic bacteria. One example is the penicillin-resistant pneumonia streptococcus, which could be fought with penicillin, erythromycin, sulfanilamide, and other antibiotics, but which is now almost 'invincible.' The resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to eight different antibiotics, including cephalexin and amoxicillin, reaches 100%. The resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae to 16 different antibiotics, including such expensive drugs as cephalexin and cefotaxime, ranges from 51.85% to 100%. And Vancomycin is the only cure for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus.
The drug resistance of Staphylococcus, Serratia, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas has long been a threat to people in the history of antibiotic usage. The first case was in the 1950's, when the infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus burst into Europe and North America and spread to other parts of the world. It later resulted in 50 million infections and 500,000 deaths.
From the history of the drug resistance of bacteria, we can see that a new group of drug-resistant strains will emerge once a new type of antibiotic drug is developed. The development of a new antibiotic requires 10 years; however, the appearance of a new drug-resistant strain needs only two years. The search for new antibiotics cannot match the pace of the development of drug-resistant strains. People worry that in the near future there will be a strain of bacteria that resists all antibiotics. It means that mankind might have to go back to the age without any antibiotics, the days before the 1920s.
In the battle between humans and bacteria, our arsenal has increased constantly, and yet we lose from time to time. As a professor at Columbia University sadly remarked, "Bacteria are more intelligent than humans."
In fact, these facts are not difficult to explain from the perspective of cultivation. The real reason for all diseases is karma, and bacteria are just one manifestation of karma in this dimension. Antibiotics can kill the bacteria in this dimension, but cannot touch the karma in other dimensions. And since the karma is still there, it will penetrate this dimension again, which explains the emergence of the drug-resistant strains over which antibiotics have no effect.
Therefore, diseases cannot be eradicated without removing the karma in other dimensions. It's a battle we can never win if we take the path of research and use of medication to conquer bacteria. Eternal health is not a transient, comfortable life sustained by various medications. Humankind should spend more energy in finding the cure within themselves. The ultimate way to eradicate diseases is to improve morality, do more good deeds, and thus eliminate karma. Then we will no longer need any antibiotics.
Translated on September 25, 2001 from
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/9/14/11712.html
