Mankind is constantly being bombarded daily by a host of invaders known as Protozoans, bacteria, viruses and a host of other nasty microscopic pests, some harmless, some horrific killers. Humanity for sometime has thought they could conquer all these microbes, but if you have read the headlines lately, how vain that hope has become.

Look at the recent epidemic levels that chickenpox outbreaks have become across the country. This year alone, over 100 people will die from chickenpox. What is sad about this is, this is one of the few microbes that mankind has defeated, the problem is getting people to get their kids vaccinated. And people with suppressed immune systems are especially prone, as well as any women who wants to have a child. Women who are not vaccinated against chickenpox, and who get it while pregnant, have a high risk of having a baby born with defects. So, if mankind has defeated chickenpox, why has it not been able to conquer the AIDS virus, and these new superbugs that are emerging? Well, here's why.

First, let's name the new superbugs. The usual and common form of tuberculosis has now mutated into several new strains that are resistant to present antibiotics that were designed to treat it. And folks, incase you didn't know it, you can catch tuberculosis from breathing the air droplets of someone that has coughed the germs into the air. The tuberculosis microbes can live in water droplets excreted by the lungs for up to thirty minutes, floating around in the air. When I fly nowadays, with the increase of international travelers on common flights, I now wear a mask over my face when I am on the plane. I may look like a nut case, but at least I won't pickup this terrible disease. If you catch one of the new superbug tuberculosis microbes, you have a thirty percent chance of being cured, seventy percent chance of your lungs being eaten up by the microbes. I don't now about you, but I certainly don't like those odds. And if you think the air is cleansed in air planes, well think again people. The air if recirculated and recirculated. The airlines stopped pumping in fresh air in the early 1980's, during the fuel crisis because they found is saves them over 10% on fuel costs. Once they found this out, they have kept up the practice, no outside air is brought into the plane during flights.

Epidemics of cholera, dysentary, malaria, usually caused by war, poverty and overcrowding have are becoming more common. Why? Over the last twenty years, the antibiotics that were used to treat these superbugs, have also mutated into terrible horrific strains that present antibiotics have little effect on.

Here are some examples in the last couple of years of these news strains

In September, 1994, a Royal Carribean cruise ship returned early to Los Angeles because over 400 passengers came come with an unidentifiable intestinal/pneumonia type ailment. There was severe vomiting and diarrhea. One elderly man died from it. Did they ever find what the bug was? No, but the 400 passengers were treated many weeks with all types of antibiotics. Our own Centers For Disease and Control could not identify the bug.

In July, 1995, a Yale School of Medicine researcher finally recovered after nearly a year of extensive and a new type anti/virus therapy not available to the public from a rare and lethal disease called Sabia virus. Since then there have been several hundred cases reported. Sabia is a virus that was thought extinct by medical researchers. It was first discovered many years ago in Sabia, Brazil, where it's first outbreak was recorded. It is a virus that circulates in rodents. It is was not known to be able to be passed from rodent to man. Now, how did this virus, only known in Brazil, suddenly reemerge in the United States. Interestingly, that same year over 80 cases were reported in the states. In some ways, this virus is related to the Hanta virus that appeared in the Southwest in 1996.

Over 850 people have come down with cholera in southern Russia, and officials there are afraid it could erupt into an epidemic.

In Gloucestershire England, a new mutated fleshing eating type strep-A bacteria has emerged that is resistant to any known antibiotics except sulphur being put directly on the skin, which in turns eats more flesh away, but at least kills the bacteria.

Over 400 young people at a high school in a middle-class suburb Los Angeles area have been exposed to a new resistant strain of tuberculosis. It was brought in by a 16 year old Vietnamese immigrant who contracted it in her native country before being brought to the states. Hello, where was out Health Department to check out this person before she was allowed in?

The New England Journal of Medicine reported that the children of a Cincinnati suffered an epidemic of pertussis, (whooping cough) last year. There were 352 cases, compared to only 542 total cases for the 13 years prior, 1982 to 1995. None of the cases resulted in death, however what is alarming is that there were more than 6,500 cases nationwide, the largest number in more than 26 years. Whooping Cough people, is what killed over 1/3 of the early American settlers when they traveled west. If this rise continues, we will start seeing fatal deaths from it. And this new strain is mutating again

In 1989, a U.S. Army lab in Frederick, Maryland almost brought this country to it's possible death bed. Imported monkeys started dying from a strain of the Ebola virus. This incident is what the movie the HOT ZONE was based upon. The Ebola virus folks, is a deadly virus that literally eats away flesh and internal organs within 72 to 96 hours and you bleed to death

Stephanie, 35, from St. Louis wrote, "My doctor just told me that I have a new strain of a sexually transmitted disease, (not AIDS), and it may be very difficult to cure. I thought penicillin was the quick and easy cure for this?

Sorry Stephanie, there are new strains of the AIDS virus, the E-Coli bacteria, the bacteria you get from eating uncooked meat or pork and also new strains of sexually transmitted diseases. It is now estimated that there are over forty different strains of herpes, syphilis and gonorrhea that will not respond to old standby treatment for over fifty years, penicillin.

John, 28, from Dearborn wrote, "I've heard so much about where the AIDS virus came from? Could you shed some light on this?

Okay John, here goes. Let me correct something that is believe it or not, still a misconception with many people. AIDS came from AFRICA. It first migrated to Europe, (England), where the first reported cases in the early 1970's were reported. These were men coming from the Gold Ivory Coast of Africa who paid visits to prostitutes in the villages near the gold mining communities. Many of these prostitutes had come down with the human form of the aids virus after eating the meat of monkeys that had not been thoroughly cooked who had the simian form of the AIDS virus. It did not come from the gay community as some still think

Margret, 50, from Phoenix wrote, "The last couple of years, I have had more colds and even had a bought with pneumonia, which I had never had. I was hospitalized for two weeks, the doctors had a hard time getting rid of it. They said it was a new strain. The antibiotics they finally used on me cost over $70.00 a shot, something new called Roseflyn. What is our world coming to, will one day, we won't have anything to fight these illnesses with?

Well, hopefully we will Margret. Roseflyn is a new antibiotic, a fifth generation to combat many bacterial infections, the strains that have mutated over the years and become resistant to the other standard antibiotics. And yes it is expensive, the company developing this, took over ten years and over 400 million in research costs to developed it. I am concerned though, the pharmaceutical companies are having a very difficult time in keeping up with the new mutating strains. It is taking longer and longer for them to develop the new generation of antibiotics to combat them. I hope Margret's comment does not come to pass because of this.

Mankind really needs to start looking at this problem more seriously. Here are the latest annual statistics on deaths worldwide that will be attributed to these mutating diseases. These alone should scare the hell out of any medical researcher and POLITICIAN out there who does not want to vote for more research funds for medical research into these areas.

Acute Respitory Infections, ( mostly new strains of pneumonia), bacterial and virus caused, over 4 million three hundred thousands deaths next year. Diarrheal Diseases, bacterial and virus, over 3 million, two hundred thousand. New strains of tuberculosis, bacterial caused, over 3 million deaths. New strains of Hepatitis B and C, viral caused, over 3 million deaths. Malaria, Protozoan caused, over 1 million deaths. Measles, viral caused, over 1 million deaths. Neonatal Tetanus, bacterial, over 750,00 deaths. AIDS, viral caused, over 720,000 deaths. Pertussis, (Whooping Cough), bacterial caused, (new strains), over 750,000 deaths. These diseases alone folks will kill over 18 million people next year worldwide. And mankind thinks they have won the war on bacterial and virus illnesses? There was a cholera epidemic in Rwanda last year that killed over 50,000 people. A new strain untreatable by present day antibiotics. And folks, cholera is an airborne disease. It has an incubation period of up to 21 days before the person knows he is infected. A person traveling from overseas on an airplane could not only infect everyone person on the plane, but within 21 days could infect every person he came into contact with. This is why I believe that we need stricter health regulations regarding air travel of people coming into the states from anywhere. They should be required to have health certificates.

This is why I have been advocating the use of natural herbs. There are many natural herbs that have miraculous antibacterial and antiviral properties and believe it or not are finally being recognized by the medical community. If you did not catch my column on natural healthcare, be sure to go to my previous columns page and read it. You will be amazed at what is out there folks that really does work, even against these new strains of bacteria and viruses. And it makes perfect sense if you think about it. Nature fighting nature naturally. It is nature that makes these bacteria and viruses. And nature provides a balance to everything. Just look at the rain forests, the most perfectly balanced pharmaceutical store in the world.

In closing, I can't stress enough and I hope I have provided enough information on how all of use need to start becoming more aware and active in preventing a worldwide healthcare crisis. Don't use antibiotics just because you have a cold. They will do nothing to kill the cold virus. However, a herb called Echinecia, which you can make into a tea, does and it is a heck of allot cheaper. If you have children and they are sick, don't send them to school or day care to give there germs to other kids. Even if you have to miss a day or two of of work, if everyone would do this, you would find in time a lot less sick kids. And if you are sick, stay home, get well, stop spreading your germs to everyone else in the work place, especially if you have the flu. Did you know that the last major outbreak of influenza, because people would go to work with it, killed over 20 million people in Europe in 1918 and 1919. Stop and think about it folks!

My next column will be about my comments and what you my readers will be writing me about concerning this:

Is mankind in a spiritual transition. Are more people searching for more answers. Do you feel the right wing religious front becoming larger and having more political push in our lives? Do you believe in God or some higher presence? Do you believe in miracles and angels? Do you think we are in the end times?

Let me hear from you everyone. I would like to take this time to thank my new readers in the following countries: France, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, England, South Africa, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Norway, Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Bahamas, Thailand, New Zealand, Argentina, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Spain, Israel, Ecuador, Turkey, Chile, USSR, Holland, China and of course you my many readers in the United States.

~ David Lawrence Dewey ~