Maryn McKenna: What do we do when antibiotics don't work any more?
Maryn McKenna: Que facemos cando os antibióticos xa non funcionan?
Maryn McKenna recounts the often terrifying stories behind emerging drug-resistant diseases that medical science is barely keeping at bay. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
xogador de baloncesto semiprofesional
and a semi-pro basketball player
he loved being a fireman,
que adoraba ser bombeiro,
estación de bombeiros.
he started polishing all the brass,
empezou a sacarlle brillo ó latón,
the fittings on the walls,
ós accesorios das paredes,
his shoulder started to hurt.
comezou a doerlle o ombro.
empezou a ter febre.
and when they got the local doctor in,
e cando chegou o médico,
and took him to the hospital.
that he had an infection,
decontado que tiña unha infección,
have called "blood poisoning,"
"intoxicación do sangue"
because the things we use now
porque as cousas que usamos agora
aínda non existían daquela.
the first antibiotic,
o primeiro antibiótico,
either recovered, if they were lucky,
ou ben se recuperaba, se tiñan sorte,
shaking with chills,
tremendo cos calafríos,
a medida que os seus órganos fallaban.
lined up to give him transfusions
se aliñaban para facerlle transfusións
surging through his blood.
a infección que invadía o seu sangue.
my great uncle died.
do mesmo xeito que o meu tío avó.
of cancer or heart disease,
ou do corazón,
in the West today.
afectan hoxe en Occidente.
because they didn't live long enough
porque non vivían o tempo suficiente
novas fábricas da Revolución Industrial...
of the Industrial Revolution --
when antibiotics arrived.
coa chegada dos antibióticos.
been a death sentence
eran unha sentenza de morte
you recovered from in days.
do que te recuperabas en días.
the golden epoch of the miracle drugs.
época dourada dos medicamentos milagre.
of the pre-antibiotic era.
últimos días da era preantibióticos.
of the post-antibiotic era,
da era postantibióticos,
when simple infections
no que infeccións tan simples
will kill people once again.
matarán á xente outra vez.
outra vez por causa dun fenómeno
because of a phenomenon
for resources, for food,
polos recursos, polo alimento,
that they direct against each other.
que unhas dirixen contra outras.
that chemical attack.
contra ese ataque químico.
creamos antibióticos,
and made our own versions of them,
e creamos as nosas propias versións deles,
the way they always had.
ataque igual que o fixeron sempre.
arrived by 1945.
á penicilina chegou en 1945.
the most recent drugs, in 2003,
máis recentes, apareceu en 2003,
just a year later in 2004.
un ano máis tarde, en 2004.
a game of leapfrog --
a superar a súa resistencia
and then resistance again --
e outra resistencia máis...
that pharmaceutical companies
tan rápido que as compañías farmacéuticas
is not in their best interest,
antibióticos non lles convén,
moving across the world
movéndose por todo o mundo
than 100 antibiotics
máis de 100 antibióticos
con efectos secundarios,
Control and Prevention, the CDC,
e o Control de Enfermidades, o CDC,
to all but two drugs.
tódolos antibióticos excepto dous.
estados, con tres excepcións,
with a different infection
da India cunha infección distinta
medicamentos excepto a un.
from India into China, Asia, Africa,
dende a India ata China, Asia, África,
are extraordinary cases,
fosen casos extraordinarios,
medicamento pode curar.
by the British government
polo goberno británico
on Antimicrobial Resistance
da Resistencia Antimicrobiana
right now is 700,000 deaths a year.
de 700.000 mortes ao ano.
that you don't feel at risk,
que non te sintas en perigo,
were hospital patients
eran pacientes hospitalizados
coidados intensivos
near the ends of their lives,
preto do fin das súas vidas,
are remote from us,
non nos sentimos identificados.
none of us do,
ningún de nós o fai,
almost all of modern life.
manteñen case toda a vida moderna.
with weakened immune systems --
xente con sistemas inmunes debilitados
bebés prematuros.
foreign objects in the body:
introduza obxectos estraños no corpo:
bombas para a diabetes,
need new hips and knees?
precisa novas cadeiras e xeonllos?
that without antibiotics,
estima que sen os antibióticos,
perderiamos a cirurxía.
the hidden spaces of the body.
os espazos escondidos do corpo.
that now seem minor.
infeccións que agora semellan menores.
adoitaban causar fallos cardíacos.
levaban a amputacións.
in the cleanest hospitals,
nos hospitais máis limpos,
out of every 10.
coa que vivimos o noso día a día.
we live our everyday lives.
could kill you,
calquera ferida podería matarte,
your Christmas lights,
para poñer as luces de Nadal,
fillos xogasen ó béisbol?
to receive penicillin,
persoa que recibiu penicilina,
Albert Alexander,
chamado Albert Alexander,
that his scalp oozed pus
que o seu coiro cabeludo supuraba pus
que extirparlle un ollo,
something very simple.
and scratched his face on a thorn.
which estimates that the worldwide toll
que estima unha mortalidade global
get this under control by 2050,
controlar a situación para o 2050,
will be 10 million deaths a year.
global será de 10 millóns ó ano.
we did it to ourselves.
nolo causamos nós mesmos.
biological process,
proceso biolóxico inevitable,
for accelerating it.
os responsables de aceleralo.
that now seems shocking.
que agora nos parece sorprendente.
over the counter until the 1950s.
receita ata a década dos 50.
most antibiotics still are.
isto aínda pasa coa maioría dos antibióticos.
in hospitals are unnecessary.
nos hospitais son innecesarios.
written in doctor's offices
that antibiotics cannot help.
os antibióticos non poden curar.
get antibiotics every day of their lives,
reciben antibióticos a diario,
and to protect them against
e para protexelos contra
they are raised in.
go to farm animals, not to humans,
van a animais de granxa, non a humanos,
that move off the farm
que saen das granxas
depende dos antibióticos,
depende dos antibióticos
citrus, against disease.
cítricos, contra enfermidades.
their DNA to each other
pasar o seu ADN dunhas a outras
a suitcase at an airport,
unha maleta nun aeroporto,
that resistance into existence,
a existencia desta resistencia,
the man who discovered penicillin.
o home que descubriu a penicilina.
in 1945 in recognition,
this is what he said:
pouco despois, isto é o que dixo:
with penicillin treatment
cun tratamento de penicilina
for the death of a man
pola morte do home
can be averted."
este mal poida ser evitado."
on novel antibiotics,
en novos antibióticos,
have never seen before.
nunca viron antes.
medicamentos con urxencia,
patentes prolongadas,
into making antibiotics again.
para volver facer antibióticos.
a evolución sempre gaña.
every 20 minutes.
nova xeración cada 20 minutos.
10 years to derive a new drug.
10 anos crear un novo medicamento.
de millóns de oportunidades
to tell us automatically and specifically
datos que nos digan de xeito automático
usando os antibióticos.
into drug order systems
nos pedidos de medicamentos
gets a second look.
sexa revisada dúas veces.
to give up antibiotic use.
que renuncie ó uso de antibióticos.
is emerging next.
emerxer a próxima resistencia.
to change a habit.
que é cambiar un hábito.
we've done that in the past.
xa o fixemos no pasado.
into the streets,
to the possibility of cancer,
á posibilidade dun cancro,
were expensive,
esas cousas saían caras,
around antibiotic use too.
sociais sobre o uso dos antibióticos.
of antibiotic resistance
resistencia dos antibióticos
a fluorescent lightbulb
mercaches unha lámpada fluorescente
about climate change,
o cambio climático,
dunha caixa de galletas
the deforestation from palm oil,
debida ó aceite de palma,
an overwhelming problem.
resolver un enorme problema.
for antibiotic use too.
de medidas no uso dos antibióticos.
if we're not sure it's the right one.
se non estamos certos de que é o correcto.
for our kid's ear infection
para a infección de oído do noso neno
or shrimp or fruit
of the post-antibiotic world.
do mundo postantibióticos.
the antibiotic era in 1943.
era dos antibióticos en 1943.
up to the edge of disaster.
camiñamos ata a beira do desastre.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Maryn McKenna - Public health journalistMaryn McKenna recounts the often terrifying stories behind emerging drug-resistant diseases that medical science is barely keeping at bay.
Why you should listen
Maryn McKenna’s harrowing stories of hunting down anthrax with the CDC and her chronicle of antibiotic-resistant staph infections in Superbug earned her the nickname “scary disease girl” among her colleagues.
But her investigations into public health don’t stop there: she blogs and writes on the history of epidemics and the public health challenges posed by factory farming. For her forthcoming book, McKenna is researching the symbiotic history of food production and antibiotics, and how their use impacts our lives, societies and the potential for illness.
Maryn McKenna | Speaker | TED.com