A Convention : The Overuse Of Antibiotics

Antibiotics, composed of microorganisms such as streptomycin and penicillin, kill other infectious microorganisms in the human body. At one point, antibiotics were considered to have “basically wiped out infection in the United States”, but due to their overuse and evolutionary

A couple times a year local and national mass media put the spotlight on problems connected to antibiotic overuse. Some people consider those problems to be real and serious, and others think that the discussed topics are nothing more than new “fashionable” subjects to talk about, distracting people from “real” problems, such as climbing gas prices or war expenses. Meanwhile, antibiotic overuse continues as a common practice among US doctors and agribusinesses for the last 20 years. The practice of antibiotic overuse has put patient’s health at risk, contributed to antibiotic resistance and increased bacterial mutation to a new, stronger level; as well as it hitting the economy with new costly expenses in health care. It is time to stop

Throughout my life, adults have insisted the use of antibiotics to fight against the most inconsequential illnesses, whether it’s the cold or the flu. However, neither illness is due to invasion of bacteria. This misuse can lead to antibiotic resistance, also known as antimicrobial resistance(AMR), currently one of the central issues facing the public health system. While the process for antibiotic resistance occurs naturally through the process of adaptation, the mismanagement of antibiotic resources has accelerated the rate at which the bacteria adapt. The occurrence of this misinformation isn’t limited to a few adults: even some of my peers suggest taking antibiotics when faced with the flu. This leads to asking whether AMR is truly a problem and are present regulations enough to combat the issue.

A Superbug is a bacterium that can live in the human body and has the ability to withstand all forms of antibiotic medication. Superbugs are becoming increasingly significant in modern medicine as they are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics were discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming (Walsh and McManus, 2000). This resulted in a huge movement forward in medical history and even greatened human life expectancy. Since then antibiotics have been widely used and abused, people began to treat everything with this ‘miracle’ drug. If antibiotics are continually used as bacteria grows exponentially more resistant to them then eventually society will fall back into an era without the readily

The article “The End of Antibiotics” discusses a 57 year old man that was dying and how doctors could only sit by while his condition deteriorated. This man was not shot or stabbed, he was infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria that was slowly killing him. He died months later after being bombarded with antibiotics in the form of capsules, tablets, and IVs (Begley par.1). This is the unsettling power that superbugs like this one has over modern day medicine. A superbug is a bacteria that has evolved its cellular structure to resist antibiotics. Dr. Richard Wenzel of the University of Iowa stated, “Only a few years after penicillin came into wide use with World War II, strains of staph had emerged

As many people may know, bacteria can be either harmful or helpful. The damage on your body can vary by the harmful bacteria. The damage can be as little as a cough all the way to death depending on the bacteria and amount of it. That is why it is really important to for your doctor to prescribe you medicine when you are sick or coming up with something. The reason any doctor emphasizes the importance of finishing the prescribed bottle of antibiotics relates to all 5 steps for evolution by natural selection. The first step one is over reproduction. All animals have the ability to produce more offspring than can possibly survive. This could be critically dangerous for humans because if the bacteria duplicate numerously then the antibiotics might not even be able to kill all bacteria. Another step

Antibiotics are being overused. I think that we need to stop overprescribing antibiotics because they have a negative overall effect. 50% of all antibiotic prescriptions written each year in the US are not needed, or are not prescribed appropriately. The more we rely on the antibiotics the more resistant the bacteria

The medical community has warned the public that this disaster would occur. Although with all warning nothing has been done to solve this situation. There has been causes from this dilemma. The first cause is the deadly infections that became aggressive. People were so frightened that they began starting to find a cure to the many infections. Now since antibiotics have been discovered it has taken over. It has created the world to become addictive to antibiotics. Antibiotics have led to a large misuse of the medication. “The CDC estimates that half of all antibiotics taken in the US are

Frequent antibiotic use over long periods of time puts selective pressure on bacteria, and causes resistance to spread. When an antibiotic is used to treat a typical bacterial infection, most bacteria are killed. Sometimes, however, a bacterium with an advantage lives. This bacterium can then reproduce and pass its advantage on, creating many more antibiotic resistant bacteria.​ Sometimes in medicine, antibiotics are used too often or incorrectly, which can cause resistance to spread faster than it would

According to the Antibiotic Paradox theory of Professor Stuart B. Levy (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA), “use of antibiotics itself is contributing to the problem of microbial resistance to antibiotics”. Mixed population of antibiotics-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant bacteria reside in our environment. Use of antibiotics in unconscious and ignorant way (antibiotic usage for casual illness, antibiotic administration in animal feeds, and poor disposal of unused drug formulations) is obliterating sensitive bacteria, which supress the resistant bacteria. By killing the friends, we are making it way much easier for the foes. This renders selection of antibiotic-resistant organisms out of the mixed

The overuse of antibiotics has been a problem for well over a decade. This misuse leads to many nonvisible problems arising within the human population. As the use of antibiotics increases, the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria also increases. When bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic, another antibiotic must be used to try and kill it and the cycle becomes vicious. Michael Martin, Sapna Thottathil, and Thomas Newman stated that antimicrobial resistance is, “an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society” (2409).

Antibiotics are widely used drugs in the day – to – day medical treatments of the 20th century. Diseases that were once almost threatening are now cured sparingly easily by means of antibiotics. For one thing, if antibiotics are used in right doses they serve as life – saving tools, on the other hand over use of antibiotics is life threatening. Antibiotics were particularly used for treating the bacterial infections but, in modern day medical sciences antibiotics have become the most commonly prescribed drugs for both bacterial and viral diseases/ infections. For the reason that, over use of antibiotics is causing the common bacteria to gain resistance against the medicines. As a result of this, antibiotics are not performing as they are intended to use (Mike Stobbe, 2013). Consumption of antibiotics in large quantities has proven to cause severe health problems like, obesity, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases, allergies certain hormonal production and asthma.

This is a twofold problem; in that, drug-resistant superbugs and the abuse of antibiotics are both major health concerns. However, for the purpose of this public health problem statement, I will focus on the increasing threat of drug-resistant organisms from the abuse of antibiotics. More so, I shall address what should be occurring in this current health problem, what is currently occurring, and health disparities relating to it, if nothing is done. There are misguided beliefs and expectations associated with lack of awareness of the dangers of antibiotics use.¹ Unlike the natural antibiotics of fungi and bacteria, most artificially synthesized antibiotics are broad-spectrum. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are capable of killing both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, while narrow-spectrum or natural antibiotics target only a specific gram-type

Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections (“About”). Bacteria have started to develop resistance so quickly, that pharmaceutical companies have decided to stop spending their time and money on the discovery of new antibiotics. Infections are gradually making their way around the world, and for every 100 antibiotics currently available, two drugs might work with side effects, or none (McKenna).

It presents an ethical quandary to society. In theory, not only are bacteria evolving but so are humans from generation to generation (Weaver, 2008). Due to this idea, they engage in the continual use of antibiotics inhibiting their innate and acquired immune response. What is more is that hospitals and patients depend on antibiotics and its advancements. According to Mahyar Etminan, these drugs were overused “by lazy doctors who are trying to kill a fly with an automatic weapon”, prescribing stronger antibiotics with stronger antibiotics (Brody, 2012). For pediatric care, a study in particular showed that doctors prescribe antibiotics 62% of the time if they perceive parents expect them and 7% of the time if they feel parents do not expect them (Mangione-Smith, McGlynn, Elliott, & et al., 1999). As well as for most cases of ear infections caused by bacteria, antibiotics are effective but only 1 out of 5 children with ear infections needs antibiotics to clear an ear infection (Bradley-Stevenson, & et al., 2007). Furthermore, in third world countries, they can have antibiotics without a prescription needed. For instance, here in the Philippines, purchases of antibiotics were made without prescription in 66.3% of 1608 transactions (Lansang, Lucas-Aquino, Tupasi, Mina, Salazar, Juban, Limjoco, Nisperos, & Kunin, 1990). Although antibiotics present a particular frontier to health or science, it should also be considered that they