Since we are going into the doomsday direction with the discussion Ill add what I think is the real concern. Its not this newest virus. We have had similar new viruses from china like this before. The common flu will infect far more people than this virus out of china will, and will kill more american lives for sure. Viruses aren't new.
The real danger however is the over use of antibiotics. My wife is an RN as Ive mentioned before, and she recently attended a course where this issue was covered, so doctors are starting to really pay attention to it now. Still however many doctors are way over prescribing antibiotics, and many patients will often demand one if they are feeling sick - even when the likelihood is that the infection is viral and not bacterial. Many people really have no understanding of antibiotics. They only work on bacterial infections, NOT viral infections. If you have a viral infection and take antibiotics it will do nothing but kill good bacteria in your gut, potentially weakening your own immune system a little. The problem though is that bacteria grow resistant to antibiotics very quickly, so the more we use them, the more we have to keep developing new ones, and we are starting to run out at this point. Already in places like India they have reverted to using some old, harsh, antibiotics form the 1960's - antibiotics that are harsh on the body and had been put out of use because of the complications caused in patients. They are pulling them off the shelf now because they are running into "super bugs" that will respond to nothing else. They have built up immunity to every antibiotic.
The danger in this of course, and one that many health officials have been trying to sound the alarm on, is that once some of these nasty bacteria gain the upper hand, we could return to a time where thousands of people die in droves to waves of bacterial infections, like used to happen before the discovery of penicillin.
I see it all the time in people in my own circle. they get a little cold, and I hear them say "Yea Im going to the doctor tomorrow, to hopefully get some antibiotics and get rid of this" and the doctor of course hands it out. It could be bacterial and it could be viral, so the doctor has some ground to prescribe it, but this is the problem. So people are taking antibiotics constantly for issues that it does NOTHING for, except assist any bacteria in their system from gaining immunity to it. People also fail to realize that antibiotics kill GOOD bacteria as well as bad that are in the digestive tract. They assist with the breaking down and digestion of food. They also help combat many bad bacteria that enter the bowel system. When you kill them off, enough so that the bad bacteria starts to win the war so to speak, you weaken your immune system and can actually open yourself up to things such as bacterial colitis. Antibiotics should ONLY really betaken in cases where a known bacterial infection has occurred. Dentists also will often now prescribe antibiotics after pulling a tooth - just as a precautionary measure to help prevent infection. A good thing right? Well maybe and maybe not...It will come to a reckoning one day Im afraid.
