Antibiotic Resistance Is A Public Health Problem

The development of antibiotics was an important advancement in 20th century medicine. Previously deadly infectious diseases are now routinely treated with antibiotics. Moreover, for modern-day medical procedures such as chemotherapy treatment to be successful, antibiotic use is necessary. For these reasons, the prospect of bacteria developing widespread resistance to antibiotics is a major concern as it would render many modern-day medical therapies unviable.

Modern-day advances have allowed scientists to develop methods to control pathogens. The more common methods include the use of antiseptics, antibiotics, and vaccines. By definition, antiseptics are chemicals used to kill pathogens. A few widespread antiseptics include soap, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol. Antiseptics are primarily used for the external destruction of pathogens, while antibiotics and vaccines target internal pathogens. Nevertheless, there are and can be difficulties concerning the use of antibiotics. “As antibiotic use has become more common, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have evolved.” This resistance due to evolution is called antibiotic resistance. It results in the antibiotics having no effect whatsoever on the bacteria, rendering the antibiotics useless. When antibiotic resistance occurs, scientists must resume their search to create a new medicine to can kill the mutant bacteria.

Preventable infections regardless of the causative agent, have become major triggers of unintended patient outcome, increased morbidity, and mortality (Arias, 2010). Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) are the most common causes of healthcare associated infections (HAI) and outbreaks in acute care hospitals and community settings (CADTH, 2010). The widespread infection with the MRSA pathogen is believed to have increased from 2.4 percent in 1975 to 29 percent in 1991 and 2003 in hospitals across the United States (U S) (CADTH, 2010). The prevalence is even greater among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients at 53 percent (CADTH, 2010) and continues to rise due to the widespread

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), specifically those involving multi-drug resistant organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, as well as higher cost of healthcare and longer length of hospital stays for patients. Each year, millions of people acquire infections while receiving care, treatment, and services in hospitals and other health care organizations.

Each state can compare its statistical data to the standardized infection ratio (SIR), a summarized ratio of the culmination of national data; this is an excellent method to track the progress in the goal of reducing and eventually eradicating HAIs. The report for the state of Kentucky on HAIs in the state’s acute care hospitals was based on information received from a total of 116 hospitals that provided data for this survey. Unfortunately, the incidence of reported HAIs associated with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of laboratory identified hospital-onset bloodstream infection, is extremely high. Kentucky’s reported incidences in 2014 of patients infected with MRSA while being treated in acute care hospitals is 25% higher than the national baseline. This information is a red flag for the state’s epidemiology experts and healthcare professionals, that infection control protocol in place should be reviewed and researched to determine what can be done, either on a hospital-to-hospital based level or a state-wide level, to improve the efficiency of reducing or eliminating HAIs that are associated with MRSA infections. One area that the state’s statistical data rates very well is in Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs). Kentucky’s number of reported incidences of this type of infection is 45% lower than the national baseline, suggesting that the protocol used for this type of infection is very effective compared to what is practiced in other

Hospital settings have harbored a disease-causing organism called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) since the 1960s. However, hospitals aren’t the only settings at risk of a MRSA outbreak. In recent years’ healthy communities have seen a genetically distinct strain of MRSA, called community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). Although this organism has been less resistant to antibiotics, it is more virulent and capable of causing illnesses (Alex & Letizia, 2007). The community should be aware of the risk factors for this infection and understand its signs, symptoms, and management.

However, the scene is changing dramatically once again, and not in our favor. Antibiotic resistant bacteria

Compliance with the National Patient Safety Goals and other initiatives related to prevention of hospital-acquired infections has been a challenge for many hospitals. IHI (2008) reported that despite Joint Commission (2008) efforts related to prevention, rates of hospital-acquired infection remain unacceptably high Therefore, I choose “Preventing Hospital-Associated Infection: MRSA Upshaw-Owens, M., & Bailey, C. A. (2012) for my National Safety Patient Goal for prevention of infection.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a harmful and virulent antibiotic resistant bacterium that is a major concern in most American hospitals. Modern scientists are aiming to discover effective prevention methods for MRSA in hospitals, so productive prevention guidelines can be created. Clinical microbiologists such as K. Nguyen, J. Cepeda, and M. Struelens all conducted clinical trials in separate American hospitals. They employed different MRSA inhibition techniques, such as hand hygiene, isolation, and MRSA screenings, which were tested on a wide

Hospital acquired infections become extremely costly in America, burdening the patients as well as the hospitals. If a patient is admitted into a hospital seeking treatment and while at the hospital, the patient develops an infection that will prolong the patient’s stay leading to higher medical bills. These patients that acquire an infection end up paying much more than patients who were there seeking the same treatment and did not contract an infection. “Post surgical wound infections more than double a patient’s hospital costs” (Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths [RID], n.d.). It is unacceptable for a patient seeking treatment to have to spend even more of their money on hospital expenses due to the development of an infection in a hospital. Hospitals are supposed to provide optimal treatment and therapy to their patients, yet patients will develop more problems by staying in one. Not only do patients pay increasingly more when they acquire infections in hospitals, but the hospitals themselves also bear the expense as well. For example, “inpatients with S aureus infection had, on average, three times the length of hospital stay three times the total charges, and five times the risk of in-hospital death than inpatients without this infection” (Noskin, 2005). It is vital for health care administrators

Antibiotics themselves are relatively new in the history of health and medicine. In order to better understand antibiotics we must first understand how we developed them. The germ theory of antibiotics

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).

This article explores the exciting effects of antibiotic resistance and how we can utilize this knowledge to create better treatments against bacterial infections. It is necessary to know how resistant a strain of bacteria is to a specific antibiotic so that treatment can be changed to better treat the patient. In this study, 200 strains of the Gram-negative bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), were tested for resistance against thirteen different antibiotics by the method of disk diffusion. K. pneumoniae was chosen for its emergence in hospital-acquired infections and the fact that it is involved in a variety of diseases, including pneumonia, bacteremia, septicemia, diarrhea, and infections of the urinary tract, bones, and central nervous system (1).

Less than 50 years after penicillin was discovered, strains of bacteria were discovered to be resistant to antibiotics (Haddox, 2013). Over the years scientists have changed the structure of the antibiotics to avoid this resistance, every time the bacteria adapts to overcome the changes. Bacteria divides as fast as 20 minutes and have many different ways to adapt (Haddox, 2013). Bacteria pass their drug resistance between strains and species, causing antibiotics to be less effective to all bacteria (Haddox, 2013).

The discovery of antimicrobial agents for the treatment of infectious diseases has been heralded as one of the greatest medical achievements of the 20th century. However, use, misuse, and abuse of antimicrobial agents has led to an increase in the population of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and has become a major public health threat the world over. Unfortunately the pace of developing new treatments has not kept pace with the growing problem, leading to increased mortality and morbidity rates. Only through education programs and development of new classes of treatment can this epidemic hoped to be controlled. The proliferation of antibiotic resistance is a continuing problem for all members of the human race and only with concerted efforts of all can the continued efficacy of antibiotics be preserved.