Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Sadly most recently there was a strain of Antibiotic resistant genes was transferred from human to animal, In this case it was a cow and about 7 people and a resistant strain of salmonella luckily no one died in this case. Although this is a step in the right direction we must keep the Industries and the FDA’s feet to the fire because without proper enforcement the producers could use similar amounts of antibiotics to “treat illness” in the livestock. These are changes we need to make to prevent the epidemic of Antibiotic

I certainly remember sitting in high school biology class and reaching the point in the year when microbial and bacterial genetics and replication is covered. That topic was always capped with the unfortunate fact that a unnerving amount of diseases, whether they be bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and on the rare occasion, viral, are becoming resistant to the commonplace pharmaceuticals used to remedy them. Disease such as tuberculosis, MRSA, gonorrhea, and CDIFF, that have proven to be fatal, have a new trick up their molecular sleeve to further bring harm to patients everywhere. They have grown resistant to their typical medicines – usually antibiotics – making the disease harder to get treat, get rid of, and prevent from spreading.

A drug-resistant organism may be introduced into a health care facility with the admission of a patient who is infected with or who has been colonized by such a strain. Alternatively, antimicrobial resistance may emerge in bacteria as a response to selective antibiotic pressure, or a resistant organism may spread from person to person. Often, a combination of these factors may be involved in the emergence and transmission of antimicrobial resistance within a health care facility (Mulvey M. and Simor A., 2009).while according to Toltzis P., (2003) stated that, the role of antibiotic exposure on the acquisition of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the intensive care nursery is difficult to calculate given the covariance of such exposure to other

Dr. Alexander Fleming re-discovered the bacteria penicillin in 1928 at a hospital in London. Although it was first discovered by french medical student, Ernest Duchesne in 1896, Fleming is credited for furthering the research. After coming home from a vacation, he discovered a bacteria killer in one of his petri dishes. “He observed that a plate culture of Staphylococcus had been contaminated by a blue-green mold and that colonies of bacteria adjacent to the mold were being dissolved”. Writes Mary Bellis in “The History of Penicillin”. Fleming had observed that an antibacterial had formed from his creation and was killing off some of the Staphylococcus. In an article written by Brittany Connors, it was stated “Fleming wasn’t known for keeping a neat, or orderly lab, so it would not have been unusual for open cultures to be scattered about his workspace.”

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that must be addressed on a clinical, economical, and research level. According to the antimicrobial resistance AMR, by 2050 “10 million more people would be expected to die every year than would be the case if resistance was kept to today’s level”. Due to over exposure do antibiotics bacterial pathogens have developed both defenses and offenses against antibiotics. These mechanisms provide bacteria to survive antibiotic level that human bodies cannot tolerate. In order to combat this problem two main avenues exist. The first option is big pharmaceutical companies and startup biotechnology companies, backed by venture capitalism, can develop new antibiotics. This process however is not profitable

In this paper, I address some major ethical issues associated with the ineffective use of Antibiotics which contributes to Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as Antimicrobial resistance is a direct consequence of not considering several bioethical factors associated with proper use of antibiotics since its advent. The Antimicrobial resistance is a result of ceaseless selection pressure over bacterial population during several generations from human application of antibiotics through overuse, underuse and misuse. In the first section, I have discussed why AMR currently has become one of the major public health concerns and the impacts of the AMR on global public health should not merely be viewed as a technical or medical problem but as a distinct

The study led by John Bartlett, David Gilbert and Brad Spellberg (2013) Seven Ways to Preserve the Miracle of Antibiotics, stated that the discoverer of penicillin – one of the world’s first antibiotics, Sir Alexander Fleming, raised the issue regarding antibiotic misuse and overuse in 1946 when he told a warning that “the public will demand [the drug and] … then will begin an era … of abuses.” However, Fleming’s warning was neglected. As a result, antibiotics’ efficacy are now endangered which owes to the rapid escalation of antibiotic resistance along with equally accelerated decline in the development and discovery of new antibiotics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the number of mortality caused by Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria (MDRB) in the United States alone to be at 23,000 annually (CDC, 2017). As the number of cases increases, scientists are urged to reform a new tactic to tackle this challenge. A BBC article reports that scientists in the University of Western Australia were able to model a three-dimensional shape of the protein involved in bacterial resistance, in which may assist with the development of more effective treatments against multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria (BBC News, 2017); link to the BBC article provided in the reference list. This

There is an estimate of 1 million children age five and under dying to Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) each year (Schrag S, Beall B, and Dowell S 2001). This is due to the growing threat of bacteria becoming resistant to more and more antibiotics. The first case of S. pneumoniae becoming resistant to an antibiotic was in 1965, to penicillin, just twenty-two years after the drug was first created. This is cause for concern because should bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, we will have no way to treat bacteria-born disease. Fowler et al. have attempted to warn the world about the “antibiotic apocalypse” we have entered by continual use of

John Wesley is a 56 year old man who apart from taking warfarin for his chronic atrial fibrillation is not on any other medication. His International Normalised Ratio (INR) is monitored regularly so that it is around 2.5 (range 2.06-2.8). John goes to his GP with a lower urinary tract infection and is prescribed a 7 day course of cefixime, a 3rd generation cephalosporin. His GP tells John that he will need to come in the following week for a blood test for his INR.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem throughout the globe. Besides using antibiotics for medical use, they are being used in the agriculture industry. In animals, antibiotics are being used to treat diseases, but also to prevent diseases from occurring and to increase the growth of animals (Mehndiratta, 2014, p.340). In recent years, the evidence of farmers using antibiotics for non-traditional ways has sparked major controversy. In agriculture 90% of antibiotics are used for growth-promoting and prophylactic agents with the other 10% being used to treat diseases (Khachatourians, 1998, p.2). To understand why this occurs, we first must understand the genetic basis for antibiotic resistance and the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in selected organisms. By farmers doing this an increase in the number and types of microorganisms resistant to drugs, has increased public health problems. Finally, management options for reducing antibiotics in the environment have to occur. If farmers continue to use antibiotics for non-traditional uses, as humans we can be affected greatly not just by food supply, but by water runoff, the air, and even the soil. Also, more public health problems will occur.

In my research, I’ve noticed a change in our path to great health as the tables have turned for us. Antibiotics have always been a drug to turn to when we want to fight bacteria, but now the bacteria are growing stronger and fighting back to the point where they’re winning and we don’t have any solid guarantee of stopping them. In fact, we don’t even have a cure for these bacteria- or superbugs. So, when we send more antibiotics into the system with the intentions of diminishing the body of these bugs, it only makes matters worse as it can only increase the immunity of the bacteria towards the drug.

The use of antibiotics dates from the 1920s and, for the first time in history, the human race has a chance to win in the war against bacterial disease. Unfortunately, it is unknown if humans will ever win the battle against disease because of antibiotic resistant strains. Antibiotics are overprescribed and with the overuse, bacteria are becoming resistant at a rapid rate. Without antibiotics bacteria would still mutate but the mutations would not help the bacteria. With antibiotics the bacteria do have an advantage when they mutate. Through natural selection the resistant strains are able to survive and spread while the antibiotics kill the nonresistant strains. It is important to understand that overuse is not causing bacteria to mutate but rather is increasing the rate of resistance. Behaviors such as doctors prescribing antibiotics to patients even when not necessary and farmers using antibiotics to make their farm animals bigger are the reason why antibiotic resistance is becoming a major problem. Antibiotics are prescribed to patients even when they are not necessary; this is because when people get sick, they seek immediate recovery and often demand an antibiotic even if they are suffering from a virus, which cannot be cured with an antibiotic. Antibiotics do not cure viruses, but doctors prescribe them for the placebo effect so patients think they feel better. Antibiotics are also misused on farms where they are used to not only prevent and cure illness but to also

The problems with antibiotic resistance is not a recent phenomenon. When Alexander Fleming received his Nobel Prize in 1945 for the discovery of penicillin, he warned that the overuse of penicillin could have future consequences of becoming ineffective. In 1977, the problem of antibiotic resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics was prevalent enough that the FDA considered withdrawing the use in animals; but Congress put them through hoops of conducting studies to prove their findings. To

The 20th century brought along a period of success in human therapeutics with the discovery and development of antibiotics. An antibiotic is a specific type of antimicrobial that is produced by microorganisms to fight off other microorganisms. The first commercialized antibiotic was Penicillin in 1945. The discovery of the drug was led by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and it became widely used in World War II to help heal surgical and wound infections (Carlet et al.). When Fleming was presented with the Nobel Prize for his discovery, he made sure to warn the human race of Penicillin-resistant bacteria (“About”). He stated, "the thoughtless person playing with penicillin treatment is morally responsible for the death of a man who succumbs to