Antibiotic Resistance And How We Can Develop Better Treatments Against Bacterial Infections

Antibiotics are powerful very frequently used potential drugs in fighting bacterial infections worldwide, [1]. These agents saved millions of lives in the past fifty years in both hospital-based and outpatient settings. Inadequate measures to control the spreading of infections, overprescribing as well as inappropriate selection and dosing of antibiotics by healthcare providers, unfettered access to antimicrobials by public, failure to adhere to clinically desired treatment regimens are some of the driving force to spread of antibiotics resistance, [2]. In addition, lack of regulations to promote the rational use of antibiotics in humans, infection prevention and control are some of the other factors that lead to emergence of resistance to antibiotics, [3].

Antibiotics are inarguably one of the greatest advances in medical science of the past century. Although the first natural antibiotic Penicillin was not discovered until 1928 by Scottish biologist Alexander Flemming, evidence exists that certain plant and mold growths were used to treat infections in ancient Egypt, ancient India, and classical Greece (Forrest, 1982). In our modern world with the advent of synthetic chemistry synthetic antibiotics like Erithromycin and its derivative Azithromycin have been developed. Antibiotics have many uses including the treatment of bacterial and protozoan infection, in surgical operations and prophylactically to prevent the development of an infection. Through these applications, antibiotics have saved countless lives across the world and radically altered the field of medicine. Though a wonderful and potentially lifesaving tool, antibiotic use is not without its disadvantages. Mankind has perhaps been too lax in regulation and too liberal in application of antibiotics and growing antibiotic resistance is the price we must now pay. A recent study showed that perhaps 70% of bacterial infections acquired during hospital visits in the United States are resistant to at least one class of antibiotic (Leeb, 2004). Bacteria are not helpless and their genetic capabilities have allowed them to take advantage of society’s overuse of antibiotics, allowing them to develop

“The Last Resort,” by Maryn McKenna is an article about antibiotic resistance. It explains the increase of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae also known as CREs which are a class of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. CREs have been described as “a risk as serious as terrorism”(McKenna, 2013, p.394). CREs can cause bladder, lung, and blood infections that can develop into life-threatening septic shock. Unfortunately, it kills half of the people who contract it. This bacteria is resistant even to carbapenems, which are considered drugs of last resort because of the serious health risks in taking them. “Antibiotics have been falling to resistance for almost as long as people have been using them; Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, warned about the possibility when he accepted his Nobel prize in 1945”(McKenna, 2013, p.394). Although CREs was first discovered almost 15 years ago, it did not become a public-health priority until just recently. The North Carolinan strain of Klebsiella produced an enzyme called Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase or KPC for short. It broke down carbapenems which made the strongest antibiotic now resistant. “Physicians find themselves caught between using bad drugs or using no drugs at all”(McKenna, 2013,

Klebsiella pneumoniae (contributing the ‘K’ in the ESKAPE acronym) is a strain of bacteria that has recently developed resistance against a class of β-Lactam antibiotics developed from thienamycin (a naturally derived product, discovered in 1976, of Streptomyces cattleya) known as carbapenems. K. pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium compromised of straight rods 1-2 μm in length and contains lipolysaccarides (LPS) in its outer

Antibiotic resistance has emerged as one of the greatest public health concerns of the 21st century. Nearly every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment. This can eventually make it impossible to treat certain infections, leading to serious disability or death. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections can be attributed to overuse and over prescription. The uses of antibiotics in livestock are increasing resistance for animals and humans.

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem in modern healthcare around the world. Multidrug resistant (MDR) strains of pathogenic bacteria, which are quickly becoming more common, pose a serious risk to patients. One of the most common species of bacteria that cause problems in healthcare today is Klebsiella pneumoniae. Today K. pneumoniae can be responsible for community acquired infections, but is most commonly observed as a major cause of hospital acquired infections which can be fatal. K. pneumoniae has been observed to develop resistance to antibiotics more easily than most bacteria through the production of new enzymes to break them down. As new resistance mechanisms develop, fewer and fewer treatments are available for infections by K. pneumoniae. Although some treatments still remain, few new ones are being explored, thus the best option is to control the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Widespread use of antibiotics has been very controversial in the media as well in the general population. Due to these controversies, it is very misunderstood to how antibiotics work leading to many patients in the hospital setting wanting to take them when it is not necessary or refusing to take when it is necessary for their survival. Some of this controversy is due to antibiotic resistance, which has spread an alarming rate in the 21st century (Walsh, 2000). Antibiotic resistance is the result of very strong bacteria or microbes that are resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and those microbes accumulate overtime by their survival, reproduction and transfer, leading to increased levels of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics are medicines that are used to treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance means that an antibiotic is no longer effective in treating an infection. Resistance can develop if you use antibiotics the wrong way.

The use of the healthcare system as a whole is largely determined by the cost incurred by the patient, as well as insurance companies within the healthcare system. As for combating the growth of antibiotic resistance, it might be beneficial to increase the cost of antibiotics so that they are used only when clinically appropriate. This, however, would lead to a decrease in access to patients who might actually need these forms of treatment and who are unable to afford them. Additionally, increasing the cost of treatment options may cause there to be a delay or abandonment of therapy. While neither of these options may be ideal to patients, and even the healthcare system as a whole, the consideration of their use may aid in lowering the prevalence of antibiotic resistance.

Also known as superbugs, these bugs are resistant to our modern day antibiotics. People around the world are trying to figure out alternatives to this plague. These bugs have evolved over years and years becoming stronger and passing down genes from generation to generation, To slowly become the super bugs that they are known as today. Often these resistant genes are caused by overuse of antibiotics by humans and farm animals, but this is not always true. Recently the ARS (the American Recorder Society) found antibiotic resistance in prairie soils that had no human contact. Antibiotic resistance is commonly viewed as a result of antibiotic overuse in humans and animals, Recently found antibiotic-resistant

Antibiotic resistance is a public health problem of increasing magnitude, and analyzing patterns of bacterial behavior could help with new findings of effective solutions for this problem. This research evaluates the ways in which certain bacteria (MRSA, ESBL, CRE) resist antibiotics. With the assistance of Director Sandra Hernandez, the research was conducted in a Microbiology lab at Florida Hospital using materials such as petri dishes, wound samples, and a Vitek machine. The Vitek machine and provided materials were used to analyze the sensitivity

it also belongs to the normal intestinal flora of humans Many bacteria from this genus, including Klebsiella pneumonia are capable of nitrogen fixation. This bacteria is an extremely virulent bacteria in part due to its polysaccharide capsule which makes it more difficult for phagocytosis to occur and also allows the bacteria to easily adhere to and colonize the respiratory and urinary tracts. This virulent bacteria has been given the title of superbug which refers to its resistance to many antibiotics. Its resistance to antibiotics is related to the presence of carbapenemase, an enzyme, in the organism which makes it resistance to carbapenamase. It is only pathogenic when the immune system is compromised due to a chronic illness or debilitation and therefore it is acquired mostly in healthcare settings, mainly long-term care facilities. When it is pathogenic, the bacteria is commonly the causative agent of bacterial pneumonia, a necrotizing lobar pneumonia, and urinary tract infections. Since this bacteria is resistant to many antibiotics and is very virulent, a combination of antibiotics are used to treat it including levofloxacin, ampicillin, meropenem, terizidone and many others. The control of this bacteria is aimed at the prevention of transmission in hospitals with strategies that include contact isolation precautions, proper hand washing and textbook nursing

According to previous, excessive use of antibiotics is one of the causes of drug resistance in different pathogens, this concern has caused many hospitals around the world develop guidelines and strategies to use appropriate antibiotics and are committed themselves to

Science had a type of antibiotics called, carbapenems. The big guns reserved for bacteria that had become resistant to other common antibiotics. Unfortunately, bacteria found a way to resist these antibiotics as well. This resistance is known as CRE: carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae. K. pneumoniae, an Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) bacteria, is also Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC). This means people infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase have few to no options to kill the infection and recover. Infact, bacteria are developing that are resistant to most, if not all antibiotics available to man or at least approved by the FDA in the United

Ceftazidime is a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic used to treat a number of bacterial infections, particularly Pseudomonas and other Gram negatives, and its activity relies on binding of essential penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) (1). Despite its effectiveness against certain bacteria, there have been reports of rapidly increasing incidences of antibacterial resistance to ceftazidime caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae (2). Recently, a new beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination, ceftazidime-avibactam (AVYCAZ) has shown to have “in vitro activity against Enterobacteriaceae in the presence of some beta-lactamases and extended-spectrum beta-lactamases” and is FDA-approved for treating complicated intra-abdominal infections as well as complicated urinary tract infections (1). Due to the resistance frequency of inpatient Enterobacteriaceae isolates at the University of Washington Medical Center (4), susceptibility testing of Ceftazidime and Ceftazidime-Avibactam are crucial to ensure antibiotic treatment efficacy and to take action to reduce the spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria in a hospital setting.