Antibiotic use as a tragedy of the commons
Closing out a busy week behind-the-scenes with another short post for yinz (that’s a technical term):
Earlier this month I wrote about antibiotic resistance for the new PLOS Public Health Blog. The surprising hypothesis: our “best practices” may be creating resistance rather than preventing it.
In a beautiful coincidence, PLOS One just published a review paper on antibiotic resistance as a tragedy of the commons: In curtailing antibiotic use, is there a conflict of interest between individual and public health? (Spoiler: yes, but only sometimes.) Disclaimer: I haven’t read it yet, but will shortly.
Tags: antibiotics, plos, public health
Uncategorized | beth | 
December 13, 2012 5:47 pm
Beth Skwarecki is a science writer based in Pittsburgh, PA, interested in human health and how it relates to evolution, fitness, nutrition, microbiology, and more. Contact her at 