Infectious Disease Specialist Ignores the Immune System

A new book called Rising Plague by Brad Spellberg, a UCLA professor of medicine specializing in infectious disease, at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, is about the increase in drug-resistant bacteria. From an article about the not-yet-published book:

In the United States, more than 300,000 people die each year from infectious diseases such as influenza and pneumonia, often caused by drug-resistant bacteria.

“The scary thing is that many of these were healthy, young individuals,” said Robert Guidos, vice president of public policy and government relations for the Infectious Disease Society of America. “There are very few drugs, if any, to treat these bacteria, and there are almost none in the pipeline.”

I believe it is very likely that these “healthy” young people weren’t eating enough fermented food and thus had poorly-functioning immune systems. The article continues:

[Spellberg], however, argues in his book that drug companies are not solely responsible. Blame for the decline in antibiotics should also not be aimed at physicians for over-prescribing these drugs, nor hospitals for lacking sufficient standards in cleanliness or drug distribution.

“This problem is complex enough that it is not accurate and not helpful to blame any one group,” Spellberg said. “What we need to do is focus on solutions.”

Public awareness will go far in spurring change, he argues. Ultimately, legislators, drug companies, hospitals and doctors will have to devise a way to spur more production of new antibiotics, which become obsolete as bacteria change to survive.

“ Will have to“. As if there is no other alternative. The possibility of strengthening the immune system is not considered. Just as UC Berkeley epidemiology professors (along with the rest of their profession) ignore the immune system, here is a doctor ignoring it. Here is a longer statement by Spellberg that ignores the immune system. He’s a specialist in infectious disease. He’s repeating the conventional wisdom of his profession. UCLA is a top-ranked medical school. This is mental blindness on a massive scale with awful consequences.