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WEBVTT COULD MAKE THE MEDICINES YOU TAKE LESS EFFECTIVE. >> HI, IT IS GREAT TO SEE YOU TODAY. IT’S GREAT TO SEE SCRAPS. ERIKA: -- EMILY: NINE-YEAR-OLD SCRAPS A GREAT DANE, BULL MASTIFF MIX, WAS RECENTLY ON ANTIBIOTICS RELATED TO AN ABSESS UNDER HIS COLLAR. >> AND HE’S OFF ALL HIS MEDICATIONS NOW, RIGHT? EMILY: HE MAY BE FINISHED WITH THOSE MEDS, BUT THERE IS A LINGERING EFFECT IMPACTING NOT ONLY HIM, BUT ALSO HIS OWNER, ANNE MARIE CAGGIANO. >> WE’RE INCREASINGLY UNDERSTANDING THE IDEA OF ONE HEALTH. EMILY: DR. SHIRA DORON IS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE PHYSICIAN AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. SHE SAYS ONE HEALTH IS THE IDEA THAT ANIMAL HEALTH, HUMAN HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ARE ALL CONNECTED. THE THEORY -- >> THERE’S AN IMPACT ON HUMAN HEALTH, WHEN YOU GIVE ANTIBIOTICS TO PETS. EMILY: AND A RECENT PILOT STUDY SHE CO-LED APPEARS TO BACK THAT UP. THEY RECRUITED EIGHT DOG-HUMAN PAIRS WITH HELP FROM DOCTORS AT THE CUMMINGS SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, PAIRS WITH CLOSE INTERACTION. INCLUDING ANNE MARIE AND SCRAPS. THEY WANTED TO SEE IF A DOG GIVEN ANTIBIOTICS WOULD DEVELOP RESISTANCE TO IT AND IF THAT RESISTANCE COULD BE PASSED ON TO THEIR OWNERS. IN THE LAB, RESEARCHERS ANALYZED STOOL SAMPLES FROM THE PAIRS, LOOKING FOR RESISTANT BACTERIA. AND THROUGH A TECHNIQUE USING GELS AND ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, THEY FOUND IT, IDENTICAL RESISTANCE GENES IN THREE DOG-OWNER PAIRS. >> TREATING THE DOG AND SEEING THAT REALLY AFFECT THE PERSON IS KIND OF A UNIQUE THING IN THIS STUDY. EMILY: DR. ANNIE WAYNE IS A VETERINARIAN AT THE CUMMINGS SCHOOL, ALSO A CO-AUTHOR OF THE STUDY. SHE SAYS THE BACTERIA WAS LIKELY PASSED THROUGH ORAL CONTACT. >> IF THE PERSON IS GIVING THE RESISTANCE GENE TO THE ANIMAL OR THE ANIMAL IS GIVING IT TO THE PERSON, THEN IT’S GOING TO BE HARDER TO TREAT INFECTIONS IN EITHER ONE OF THOSE. EMILY: ANNE MARIE AND SCRAPS PASSED TWO STRAINS TO EACH OTHER. >> I KIND OF AT FIRST FELT BAD THAT I GAVE MY DOG SOMETHING, BUT IN THE NEXT BREATH I WAS CONCERNED BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAD GIVEN ME. EMILY: AND SHE’LL SHARE THAT CONCERN WITH HER DOCTOR. >> HOW WOULD THEY KNOW? >> THEY WOULDN’T. >> I WOULD JUST BE TAKING THE MEDICINE AND IT WOULDN’T BE WORKING. EMILY: ONE QUESTION IS HOW CLOSE THE CONTACT THIS HAS TO BE FOR THE TRANSITION TO HAPPEN AND RESEARCHERS AREN’T SURE BUT THEY SAY THE TAKEAWAY IS BEING CAUTIOUS WITH ANTIBIOTIC USE IN

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For many people, pets are family; just as close to them as the humans in their life. However, a new study suggests that closeness can create a concerning health issue making prescribed medicines less effective.Scraps, a 9-year-old Great Dane/Bullmastiff mix, was recently on antibiotics related to an abscess under his collar. He finished with the medicines, but there is a lingering effect impacting not only him, but also his owner, Anne Marie Caggiano."We're increasingly understanding the idea of One Health," said Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician, associate hospital epidemiologist and antimicrobial steward at Tufts Medical Center.One Health is the idea that animal, human and environmental health are all connected. "There's an impact on human health, when you give antibiotics to pets," Doron said.A recent pilot study she co-led appears to back that up that assertion. Researchers recruited eight dog-human pairs with help from doctors at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. They enrolled specifically pairs with close interaction, a group that included Caggiano and Scraps.The researchers wanted to see if dogs given antibiotics would develop resistance to it and if that resistance could be passed on to their owners.In the lab, researchers analyzed stool samples, looking for resistant bacteria. Through a technique using gels and ultraviolet light, they found identical resistance genes in three dog-owner pairs."Treating the dog and seeing that really affect the person is kind of a unique thing in this study," said Dr. Annie Wayne, a veterinarian at the Cummings School and a co-author of the study. She says the bacteria were likely passed through oral contact."If the person is giving the resistance gene to the animal or the animal is giving the resistance gene to the person, then it's going to be harder to treat infections in either one of those," Wayne said.Caggiano and Scraps passed two antibiotic resistant bacteria strains to each other."I kind of at first felt bad that I gave my dog something. But in the next breath I was concerned because of what he had given me," Caggiano said.She plans to share that concern with her doctor."How would they know? I would just be taking the medicine and it wouldn't be working," Caggiano said. One question still unanswered is just how close the dog-human contact has to be for the resistance transmission to happen. The researchers aren't sure yet. They said the main point is to be cautious with antibiotic use in pets and humans.