When I became a student nurse 20 years ago, standards of cleanliness were much higher than today.
The ensuing decades have seen the army of cleaners thinned to a skeleton crew while the additional responsibilities piled on nurses have decimated the time available to us to attend to basics such as cleanliness.
The problem of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is, however, about far more than hospitals. As long ago as 1997, the World Health Organisation warned "excessive use" of antibiotics in farmed animals "presents a growing risk to human health".
The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products
has confirmed "animals undoubtedly represent a source of antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms for humans".
Overcrowded and unhygienic conditions on factory farms have led to this appalling situation.
We can all play a part in addressing this problem by changing our diets. Superbugs are too high a price to pay for cheap meat. It is time we ended factory farming, before it ends us.
Alistair Currie RGN BSc
Campaigns Office, Viva!
-York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol
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