Antibiotic Resistance Essay

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

Antibiotic resistance is when microorganisms, such as bacteria, are able to survive an exposure to antibiotics and these bacteria are now resistant to the effects of these antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has been an issue since antibiotics were discovered. The fact that bacteria can become resistant to our medical treatments such as antibiotics is a natural evolutionary process, but there are certain human contributions that definitely speed up the process. For example, one of the main contributions that will be discussed is the problem of over prescription of the antibiotic drugs. The

Antibiotics have played an essential role in the fight against diseases and infections since the 1940’s. Antibiotics are a leading cause for the rise of global average life expectancy in the 20th and 21st century. They have greatly reduced illnesses and deaths due to diseases. With the introductions of antibiotics in the 1940’s, like penicillin into clinical practice, formally deadly illnesses became immediately curable and saved thousands of lives (Yim 2006). Antibiotic use has been beneficial and when prescribed and taken correctly their effects on patients are exceedingly valuable. However, because these drugs have been used so widely and for such a long period of time the bacteria that the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted,

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.

The more that researchers understood the genetic processes of bacteria, the better they had understood the concept of antibiotic resistance and why it could end up evolving far beyond the capabilities of current medicine (Podolsky 30). Vigorous research for decades since the antibiotic was created allowed a look into how evolving bacteria could become a major health issue as they are conditioned into resisting major strains of antibiotics.

Without a doubt, the issue with antibiotic resistance has become one of the most urgent health problems in the world. Recent studies have proven that antibiotics are becoming less effective in the recent years. For instance, developing countries like China and Kuwait experienced rapid growth in antibiotic resistance. In the years between 1994 and 2002 the reported cases of hospital and community-acquired antimicrobial infections for China boosted from 22% to 41% and Kuwait also experienced an average of 17% growth from 1999 to 2003 (Zhang 1). As the prevalence of superbugs is becoming more common due to excessive or incorrect use of penicillin and quinolones, people are more susceptible to contact this lethal microbe. The existence of antibiotic is meant to be beneficial to the human population because the drug itself is very effective at curing illnesses and enhancing food safety (Clemmitt 1). At the same time, people are generating a more serious issue by overusing the drugs.

In the past tense 60 years, antibiotic drugs have been critical to the fight against infectious disease caused by bacteria and other microbe. Antimicrobial chemotherapy has been a lead cause for the dramatic rise of norm life expectancy in the Twentieth Century. 1 However, disease-causing bug that have become resistant to antibiotic drug therapy are an increasing public health trouble. “Wound contagion, tuberculosis, pneumonia, gonorrhea, childhood ear infections, and septicemia are just a few of the diseases that have become hard to treat with antibiotics.” 2 One part of the job is that bacteria and other germ that cause infections are remarkably resilient and have developed several ways to resist antibiotics and other antimicrobial drug. 3 Another part of the problem is due to increasing use, and abuse, of existing

Antibiotics has played a huge role in the field of medicine since it was first discovered in 1928. Antibiotics are antimicrobial drug that kills or inhibits growth of diseases which prevents many illnesses. However, in the past decade, Antibiotic resistant bacteria has become the world’s latest pandemic. Many strains of bacteria have adapted and developed resistance against antibiotics. According to the CDC, “at least two million people are infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.” (CDC) This is a problem because antibiotics are the number one defense tactics against bacterial infections. Without this line of defense, people vulnerable to bacteria growth which can cause problems in health.

Antibiotic development is one of the modern marvels of medicine. This is the first external tool that people have to fight against bacterial infections. The first drug developed was Penicillin. This medication is so effective that it is still used today. From its structure, every other antibacterial drug was developed. Today, there are hundreds of options available for treating infections. Unfortunately, this has had significant ramifications on the development of resistance to these medications. As the infections continue to learn and evolve, it is important that people educate themselves on what this means and the impacts it has.

However, microorganisms are now evolving and developing unprecedented resistance to penicillin and other once potent drugs, like

Antimicrobial resistance might affect the economy in a variety of ways. One way that antimicrobial resistance might affect economy is by financially affecting hospitals. To be specific, antibiotic resistance might increase the length of stay (LOS) and direct treatment costs among hospitalized patients, so hospitals are bearing a high financial burden. Antonanzas, Lozano, and Torres (2004) found that the treatment of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections increase the financial costs for hospitals, as a result of higher direct costs and longer LOS than those related to methicillin-susceptible-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) patients or MRSA-free patients. They found that the incremental length of stay (LOS) is in the average of 2–10

Antibiotic resistant infections are on the rise in the United States, and this rise can be directly attributed to the over-prescription of antibiotics by healthcare professionals. Even with the many advances in the world today when it comes to antibiotics and treating infections, antibiotic resistant diseases are on the rise. With the diminished ability to destroy the growth of bacteria, the less we are able to get the quick fix that we believe is achieved with the use of antibiotics. Resistance compromises the benefits that we currently have to treat anything from pneumonias to antibiotics given

Antibiotics have become a very important part of medicine. It is used to treat all kinds of bacteria, infections, diseases. Sadly, antibiotics have been coming to an end, they are being used more and more often everyday. They are being used so much that the bacteria they are being used to treat have been starting to become resistant to these antibiotics. Many infections that were once so easy to be treated have been gaining a stronger resistance. This is because of how the bacteria have a special enzyme that kills and eats up the antibiotics. As well as how the resistance that bacteria have can easily be passed off from one bacteria to another. This makes the resistance to antibiotics spread faster and increase rapidly. Much of the bacteria with resistance usually have it in their genes.

Antibiotics are commonly used to treat bacterial infections in both humans and animals however the overuse and inappropriate prescription of antibiotics has caused a worldwide concern in antibiotic resistance (FDA, 2015). Antibiotic resistance is when bacteria is able to evolve in such a way enabling the bacteria to survive in the conditions it is in, consequently causing antibiotics being ineffective to the patient (CDC, 2013). Due to this issue implementations and actions have been taken to aid in the reduction of antibiotic resistance.

Dr. H. Scott Hurd author of, “The Other Side of Antimicrobial Resistance” is writing to contradict thought that antibiotic-resistance is becoming a complete global threat. (2012) the article gives several counter claims that lead you in a different mindset than simply healthcare precautions. The author talks about foodborne illness being linked to antibiotics resistance in modern medicine, also about the important knowledge that can be taken away from antibiotics when researching HIV/AIDS, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and hospital-acquired infections through research and development. The author is showing the readers that there is another side, such as, not needing to be concerned about resistance to any antibiotics because scientist and others have an understanding of certain guidelines when it comes to the patients’ health. Therefore, each excuse people are giving to support the claim antibiotic-resistance is a threat to people. He states in his writing, “As soon as an antibiotic is first used, resistance begins to develop.” He is wanting to imply in his message that even though over-prescribing is a big factor, even as simple as the first time an antibiotic is prescribed it is having effects on the patient. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, in “Antibiotics: Misuse puts you and others at risk” infers the overuse or misuse of antibacterial drugs can make resistance develop even faster, causing an epidemic before scientist can find a solution.