Fighting Invisible Killers, by Kristin Lewis, is a thought provoking article which describes how 11-year-old Addie Rerechich was on the line of dying due to MRSA. Many deadly bacteria can be found lurking in hospitals, playgrounds, malls, and in many other places infecting millions of people. We can help in the fight against superbugs by regularly washing our hands, by pasteurization, and by taking antibiotics only when you really need them.

We can help in the fight against superbugs lie Cholera by washing our hands. Symptoms of Cholera are diarrhea, nausea, fever, dehydration, and convulsions. This disease spreads through contaminated food and water with infected fecal matter. In order for us to kill this infectious disease, we need to start washing our hands more often (Lewis 8). This is because superbugs can travel on skin, this can make you sick, and you can stop it by washing your hand for at least 30 seconds with soap and water (Lewis 8).  Cholera is a superbug that can be easily prevented if we can only wash our hands and stay away from bacteria.

   Another way we can help in the fight against superbugs like Black Death (Yersinia Pestis) is by taking antibiotics. Symptoms of Black Death are fevers, vomiting, coughing, swollen lymph nodes, and tissues that blacken and die. This disease spreads through bites from fleas living on infected rats and through the air (Lewis 6). In order for us to prevent this disease we take antibiotics and only when you really need them because they can be very dangerous to the human body (Lewis 8). Black Death was a superbug that almost eliminated an entire population of people, but now that we have antibiotics we can prevent Black Death from coming. But just because we have antibiotics doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use it wisely and carefully.

   Superbugs like Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) can be prevented by pasteurization. Symptoms of E.Coli are diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever. This disease can spread through foods and drinks, especially meat, poultry, and dairy. We can fight this disease by pasteurization (Lewis 8). Pasteurization means that you are eating foods that have been through partial sterilization at a temperature that destroys harmful microorganisms without major changes in the chemistry of food. Pasteurization can be good for many things in life if you want to stay healthy, but one thing pasteurization is good for is dealing with superbugs like E.Coli.

     Thus, you can see that we can help in the fight against superbugs if we regularly wash our hands, by pasteurization, and by taking antibiotics only when you really need them. Superbugs can be found everywhere you turn, form the air that you breathe to the things that you eat and touch, but to prevent these infectious diseases from entering your body and harming you, start by washing your hands and eating healthy. Because I know I will from now on.