The Causes of, and Efforts to Reduce Antibiotic Resistance

Scientists have to keep up with the bacteria’s mutations, and it may require them making a new antibiotic for each one.

When non-resistant bacteria are exposed to an antibiotic, most of them die. But due to the increase of mutations some of the bacteria are becoming resistance to the antibiotic. The bacteria are all subject to natural selection. Natural selection is as simple as saying that the bacteria that have not developed a mutation or resistance that helps them to survive die. The ones that do, survive and pass on the mutation to the next generation. This means that we are constantly having to adapt our antibiotics because so much of the mutation is getting passed along. The flu vaccination is a good example of how mutations are carried over and how the vaccine had to be changed every year to fight the ever changing virus. Some strains

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 evolves in bacteria. Charles Darwin created the theory of evolution which focused on natural selection being the key factor of how things change. Natural selection is when organisms that are better suited to the environment are able to reproduce successfully. Evolution is descent with modification. Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics by a mutation. The bacteria that did not die from the antibiotic inherited the gene from an ancestor that made it resistant. Since the other bacteria is dying faster than the resistant bacteria, the resistant bacteria are able to multiply

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

When antibiotic is used most of the bacteria die but a few bacteria with antibiotic resistance gene survive and reproduce and pass this advantage to their offsprings. This selective pressure exists naturally, however antibiotic misuse can be accused for fastening the spread of the antibiotic resistance gene [Refer to figure 2] (Learn Genetics 2015). Consequently, inappropriate antibiotic intake will lead to a greater chance of superbugs being developed. Antibiotic resistance can be defined as a new ability which a bacterium has developed to stay unattached in the presence of an antibiotic that was previously effective to destroy the bacterium (ABC science 2015). Four key mechanisms that has been identified for bacterial antibiotic resistance can be listed as: producing enzymes that inhibit the functionality of the drug, reducing the effectiveness of the drug by producing targets against which the antibiotic, reducing the permeability of the drug into the bacterium and active export of antibiotics using various pumps (Pogson 2012). All these mechanisms can be developed by any of the bacteria when the corresponding mutated gene of antibacterial resistance is received. The genes code for specific proteins, and variation in the gene leads to alteration of the shape of proteins. This leads to changing the functionality

In doing research for an example of natural selection, I came across antibiotic resistant bacteria. This has become one of the biggest threats to the healthcare community and Center for Disease Control. Through the use of antibiotics in treatments that are not necessarily bacterial infections, as well as the over use and misuse of antibiotics, bacteria have evolved in ways making the antibiotics used against them useless. If a bacteria manages to survive through a dose of an antibiotic, they are capable of mutating and can transfer their DNA to other bacteria. The new bacteria multiply quickly and spread to other parts of your body or outside of your body to a new host. Once the bacteria have mutated and its DNA has been transferred to

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.

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria come into contact with an antibiotic over and over again.

The overconsumption of antibiotics is a big contribution to drug resistance and is why users should know what happens with the repeated use of these drugs. Even though some bacterial mutation occurs naturally, human use of antibacterial is the cause of higher-levels of resistance (Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics 2014). Bacteria mutate either by genetic mutation or by receiving the defensive agent. During an infection bacteria multiply naturally within the body and when exposed to antibiotics, bacteria have an opportunity to adapt to the drug (Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics 2014). During this period of

Antibiotic resistance is and continues to be a global public health issue1.One of the main concerns stems from the ability for bacteria to obtain antibiotic resistance very easily as a result of chromosomal changes, or through plasmids and transposons which generate an exchange of genetic material2. Resistance can also result from single or multiple mutations1,3. To combat this rising force, scientists must research and analyse the many possibilities of mutations in a variety of genes and proteins in specific bacteria and ways to combat them.

Any mutation that would prevent the action of antibiotics, but not at the same time provide a selective advantage to the bacteria, would be one that interfered with the bacteria’s ability to reproduce. If this were to occur, then any selective advantage would be negated by the cell’s inability to take advantage of the diminished competition caused by the death of susceptible bacteria. This would be likely to occur in reaction to an antibiotic that interfered with protein synthesis, since it would also impact on the chain of reactions that occurs in the transformation

According the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s greatest health threats to date (Haddox, 2013). In the article, The Health Threat of Antibiotic Resistance, Gail Haddox (2013) discusses the danger antibiotic resistance poses in today’s society and strategies to prevent the expansion of antibiotic resistance. In Europe alone, an estimated 25,000 deaths have been attributed to multi-resistant infections (Haddox, 2013). Common infections are now harder to treat due to the increased resistance to antibiotics across the world, in fact some are becoming untreatable. Antibiotics should be treated like oil, a non-renewable resource (Haddox, 2013).

The article I chose to summarize discusses many different ways to control antibiotic resistance. I thought it was a good article for me to read so I can adapt some of these strategies in my practice as a nurse practitioner. Healthcare has been forever changed with the discovery of antibiotics. Although considered one of the biggest discoveries in the last century, there has been less work done to create new antibiotics in more recent years. Once antibiotic use became widespread, resistance to these drugs has been slowly brewing. This antibiotic resistance has taken its toll on healthcare and something needs to be done to combat this problem. Encouraging the discovery of new antibiotics, preventing the overprescribing of

This review presents the salient aspects of antibiotic resistance development over the past half-century, with the oft-restated conclusion that it is time to act.