Antibiotics: The Controversy Of Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon in which germs evolve to be able to resist the action of drugs. This causes illnesses that were once easily curable with antibiotics to become dangerous infections, requiring alternative medications or higher doses. With millions of deaths increasing every year, antibiotic resistance has become one of the world's most pressing public health problems. This essay will explain the key causes of the emergence of resistant bacteria, including antibiotic misuse, inappropriate prescribing and availability of few new antibiotics, and outline relevant effects of antibiotic resistance.

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.

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,

The general populace of western civilization may believe that modern medicine is limitless and that numerous afflictions that are common can be easily resolved with the major strides medicine has taken in the past century. In the case of antibiotics, this couldn’t be farther from the truth and its use leaves a nasty prospect for the future. Antibiotics, the type of drug that is capable of killing harmful bacteria, is widely regarded as a simple gift from medical research and is expected to be prescribed for even the mildest of illnesses. However, the use of antibiotics has proved that it comes with a terrible byproduct: leftover bacteria that survives the drug and evolves strains that are resistant to the drugs the world currently

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.

This “antibiotic boom” was, to put it lightly, one of the most significant advancements in human history. But there is a slight problem. Unlike virtually all other technological innovations, antibiotics become less effective the more they are used. They are unique in this regard.

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

The misuse of antibiotics has the potential to set society back in time to the dark ages. It is time to end the careless use of these valuable antimicrobial that so many take for granted. Antibiotic resistance continues to expand and evolve and solutions to this epidemic need to implemented. By establishing stewardships, educational programs, and restrictions it teaches the severity of this issue and action that must be taken in order to decrease resistance. Antibiotic resistance is a multifactorial issue. Introducing preventative measures in hospitals will be most effective in reducing resistance, as well as eliminating the trend of misusing antibiotics.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “Antibiotic resistance is the ability of microbes to resist the effects of drugs – that is, the germs are not killed, and their growth is not stopped. Although some people are at greater risk than others, no one can completely avoid the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections” (“About Antimicrobial Resistance”). Antibiotic resistance has a higher chance of occurring with the more antibiotics taken, as the body adapts more and more each time. The CDC has collected data across the country, and has concluded that the estimated number of deaths caused by antibiotic resistance is 23,000, and that the number of illnesses is slightly higher than 2 million (“About Antimicrobial Resistance”). Already antibiotic resistance has affected millions of lives, and will continue to affect many more until antibiotic overuse is stopped

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

Modern day society is constantly in motion. The miracle drug, known as antibiotics, was a remarkable scientific advancement of the 1940’s era and seems to keep up with our demands. It has become the foundation of medicine and health care in today’s society.

“The Antibiotic Resistance Crisis” is an article on the National Center for Biotechology Information's website and consequently follows many of the conventions expected of an online article. Before the main body of text is even shown, the author's name is written and link to further information about the author is provided. This allows the reader to research what the author has published before and gain a better appreciation of their past work. The article itself is single-columned and divided into a a series of headings and subheadings that help organize and divide the text into smaller pieces. These pieces relate to the overall topic of how the overuse and misuse of antibiotics over the past century has led to the increasing ineffectiveness of antibiotics against various strains of bacteria. Because the article is published by a scientific organization, it is a fairly

The discovery of antibiotics is attributed to Alexander Fleming who discovered the first antibiotic to be commercially used (Penicillin) in approximately 1928. An antibiotic, also known as an antimicrobial, is a medication that is taken in order to either destroy or slow the growth rate of bacteria. Antibiotics are integral to the success of many medical practises, such as; surgical procedures, organ transplants, the treatment of cancer and the treatment of the critically ill. (Ramanan Laxminarayan, 2013)

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).

The question of antibiotic resistance is a growing phenomenon in contemporary society and modern medicine; it pertains to pathogenic organisms and is one of the most eminent issues of public health in the twenty-first century. Though resistant genes are ancient, its increasing prevalence poses a threat. It demands a greater need for antibiotic therapies. New resistance mechanisms may spread globally and limit our ability to treat disease and lead to a giant hole in the pillars of modern medicine.