How Does Antibiotic Resistance Affect The Economy

Healthcare acquired infections (HAI) not only contribute to exorbitant amounts of financial burden on the healthcare system but also attribute to staggering numbers of

Throughout my life, adults have insisted the use of antibiotics to fight against the most inconsequential illnesses, whether it’s the cold or the flu. However, neither illness is due to invasion of bacteria. This misuse can lead to antibiotic resistance, also known as antimicrobial resistance(AMR), currently one of the central issues facing the public health system. While the process for antibiotic resistance occurs naturally through the process of adaptation, the mismanagement of antibiotic resources has accelerated the rate at which the bacteria adapt. The occurrence of this misinformation isn’t limited to a few adults: even some of my peers suggest taking antibiotics when faced with the flu. This leads to asking whether AMR is truly a problem and are present regulations enough to combat the issue.

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 (HAI) affect 1.7 million Americans each year with as many as 98,000 dying annually as a result of hospital-acquired conditions (HAC) (Kavanagh, 2007). In 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented policy to include non-payment for HAC in order to improve quality patient care and contain costs. This non-payment disincentive refuses to pay for complications of care that are considered preventable. Two other paradigms of this policy used to promote quality include pay-for-performance initiatives and public disclosure of HAC.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a drug resistant pathogen abundant in healthcare settings and the second most common overall cause of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) (Jernigan & Kallan, 2010). The prevalence of MRSA is a significant problem found amongst many Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the United States (US); critically ill patients are at higher risk for hospital-acquired infections. Acquisition and infection of MRSA may significantly prolong duration of hospital stays, increase healthcare costs, and contribute to higher mortality rates. According to national data, MRSA accounts for nearly 70 percent of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from

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.

The main hospital strains are already partially or fully resistant to the effects of commonly used antibiotics. Resistance is also emerging to last resort drugs like vancomycin. The more virulent community strains of MRSA are infiltrating hospitals while the more resistant hospital strain is leaking into the community. The history of MRSA as described in Superbug shows how quickly bacteria can evolve when we add a strong selective force like antibiotics. Around the world, species of bacteria are becoming “superbugs” that are resistant to conventional treatments. Pharmaceutical companies are cutting research on new antibiotics in favor of more profitable investments. We are quickly running out of options for treating multi-drug resistant bacteria. As we move toward a “post-antibiotic” world, there are valuable lessons to be found in the history of MRSA, one of the first superbugs. Students in Emerging Diseases should read Superbug to learn about the complex emergence of

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2016) "MRSA can cause severe problems such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia and surgical site infections. If not treated quickly, MRSA infections can cause sepsis and death” (para. 1). Elderly and individuals with depleted immunity (Mayo Clinic, 2016), patients in intensive care units (ICUs) where the antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use are the highest (Ma et al., 2015, p. 1), nursing home (NH) residents, and patients with indwelling devices are the most vulnerable population for the MRSA infection (Mayo Clinic, 2016). MRSA infections can put financial and physical strains to the healthcare system as observed by Hanna (2011), “MRSA costs the US healthcare system up to $34 billion a year and accounts for over 8 million additional hospital

Health care acquired infection (HCAI) exerts a massive impact on the health care services delivery and improvement of its quality. It has been reported among leading culprits of prolonged admission, increased mortality, long-term disability and complications, emergence of multidrug resistant organism (MDRO), and they are costing healthcare services a great deal of money.(1, 2) At a given time, occurrence of HCAI is 15.5 per 100 patients in developing countries and 5 to 12 per 100 patients in developed countries. It is estimated that approximately 1 out of every 20 hospitalized patients will contract an HCAI.(3) In a summery and updating reviews done in 2014 by WHO concluded that more than a quarter of the MERS-cov infections have been

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that is responsible for several infections in humans like pneumonia, bloodstream infection, etc. Methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus was first identified among hospitalized patients in 1960s. MRSA is any strain of Staphylococcus aureus developed through the process of natural selection and resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics like penicillins (methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, etc.) and the cephalosporins. It is of huge concern in hospitals, prisons, and nursing homes, where the patients are at high risk due to open wounds, invasive devices, and weakened immune systems. MRSA infections that occur in hospitals are known as Hospital Associated MRSA (HA-MRSA).

from 2006 to 2007 showed that that the percentage of SSIs caused by S. aureus increased to 30%, with MRSA accounting 49.2% of these isolates [61]. with higher mortality rates, longer hospital stays, and higher hospital costs compared with other infections]. were associated

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

Take for example MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a S. aureus strain that was discovered in 1961 to be resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. Webmd indicates that MRSA has now grown its resistance from methicillin to “amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin and many other common antibiotics” (MRSA). This increase in resistance of a methicillin-resistant strain of S. aureus can be attributed to the increasing use and overuse of antibiotics, not only in the doctor’s office but also in agriculture. MRSA is only one of many antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. New resistant strains are evolving rapidly. According to Dr. Ed Warren, “there are high levels of antibiotic resistance in bacteria causing common infections (e.g. urinary tract infections, pneumonia, bloodstream infections) in all regions of the world” (21).

Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a worldwide health risk that has people brought by attention. According to, Barlam, and Gupta authors in the article, “Antibiotic Resistance Spreads Internationally Across Borders”, state that “ABR develops when bacteria are exposed to antibiotics either during treatments in humans or animals or through environmental sources contaminated with antibiotic residues” (12). Therefore, ABR is causing humans with bacterial infections, unable to treat infections because of the resistance to the antibiotics. Discussed in the article, ABR is “Spread beyond those administered antibiotics occurs through direct contact with the infected or colonized person or animal, through contact or ingestion of retail meat ...” (Barlam and Gupta 12). A variety of food-producing animals is affecting humans’ health due to farmers, and vets providing treatments to animals. These farmers are allowing these vets to prescribe antibiotics to animals to help their growth in their business. The types of antibiotics provided to the food-producing animals grow for faster production, or to treat animals that are sick or have health issues. Nevertheless, farmers play a big factor in the growth of ABR. The human population is exhibiting an increase in infections and illnesses because the drugs doctors are prescribing, their body is resistant to the drugs. Adding antibiotics to promote growth in food-producing animals, over-prescribing them for health reasons, and allowing

Infections can become harder to treat due to antibiotics used to treat the infection or diseases have become less effective.