The Importance Of Antibiotic Resistance

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

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.

Antibiotic resistance can develop wherever antibiotics are: medical facilities, animal products and communities. Breaks in infection control, inadequate water sanitation and poor hygiene all contribute to the spread of resistant bacteria from person to person (Collignon, et al., 2015). The majority of antibiotic usage worldwide is in animals raised as a food source (Collignon, et al., 2015). 80% of antibiotic use in the United States is for growth promotion and disease prevention of farm animals used for food sources (CDC, 2015). This usage of antibiotics leads to the development of resistant bacteria, which spread to people via the food chain or water (Collignon, et al., 2015).

Millions of lives are saved every single day because of antibiotics treating common infections, allowing organ transplants, as well extending the average lifespan by decades. About half of the emergency cases treated in the intensive care units in the video “Antibiotic Resistance—Catalyst” are suffering from bacterial infections as well as coming to terms that it is no longer treatable, because bacteria are rapidly becoming resistant to all the antibiotics we have. By overusing this incalculable medical resource, we are basically risking the loss the potency of antibiotics, which is a threat to the human race.

Antibiotic resistance has emerged as one of the greatest public health concerns of the 21st century. Nearly every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment. This can eventually make it impossible to treat certain infections, leading to serious disability or death. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections can be attributed to overuse and over prescription. The uses of antibiotics in livestock are increasing resistance for animals and humans.

A current predicament in the field of science is antibiotic resistance against superbugs.Though fighting against superbugs; which can be defined as a strain of bacteria unable to be killed using multiple antibiotics, is now a large problem, in the past it was not. The evolution of resistance in bacteria due to antibiotic abuse and lack of product development has brought upon us once again the fear of a pre-antibiotic era; one where simple, once easily defeated infections could kill. Already, infectious diseases are the 3rd leading cause of death in the US and the 2nd across the entire world, and drug resistant superbugs send 2 million Americans to hospitals every year; killing 23,000 of those people. And any bacterium can quickly and easily become multidrug resistant, the leading cause of this being antibiotic misuse in both humans and animals.( "Clinical Infectious Diseases." The Epidemic of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections: A Call to Action for the Medical Community from the Infectious Diseases Society of America. UCLA Medical School. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.)

Also known as superbugs, these bugs are resistant to our modern day antibiotics. People around the world are trying to figure out alternatives to this plague. These bugs have evolved over years and years becoming stronger and passing down genes from generation to generation, To slowly become the super bugs that they are known as today. Often these resistant genes are caused by overuse of antibiotics by humans and farm animals, but this is not always true. Recently the ARS (the American Recorder Society) found antibiotic resistance in prairie soils that had no human contact. Antibiotic resistance is commonly viewed as a result of antibiotic overuse in humans and animals, Recently found antibiotic-resistant

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.

The current discovery of growing antibiotic resistant bacteria has been linked to the public’s unaware overuse of antibiotics and changing rates of antibiotic prescription. Many people in the U.S. are already knowledgeable that antibiotics are used to help fight against disease or infections, but the mass population is blind to the negative drawbacks of overusing the antibiotics. The research “ Study shows for antibiotic overuse” by Mike Stobbe (2013) provides a clear explanation of the drawback provided by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stating that antibiotic resistant bacteria are produced, “when antibiotics are not used long enough or are taken for the wrong reasons, allowing

Antibiotics have been a very important means for someone to feel better. Since the discovery of Penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have saved many countless lives that otherwise wouldn’t be saved. The real threat in the world today is the rapid spreading of antibiotic resistant diseases. To address this worldwide problem the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria was developed and issued by President Barack Obama on September 18, 2014. This plan lists five goals to slow the progression of resistant bacteria. These goals work as a guide actions of the U.S government and public health agencies around the world to address this big concern to the world’s safety.

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).

Ceftazidime is a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic used to treat a number of bacterial infections, particularly Pseudomonas and other Gram negatives, and its activity relies on binding of essential penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) (1). Despite its effectiveness against certain bacteria, there have been reports of rapidly increasing incidences of antibacterial resistance to ceftazidime caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae (2). Recently, a new beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination, ceftazidime-avibactam (AVYCAZ) has shown to have “in vitro activity against Enterobacteriaceae in the presence of some beta-lactamases and extended-spectrum beta-lactamases” and is FDA-approved for treating complicated intra-abdominal infections as well as complicated urinary tract infections (1). Due to the resistance frequency of inpatient Enterobacteriaceae isolates at the University of Washington Medical Center (4), susceptibility testing of Ceftazidime and Ceftazidime-Avibactam are crucial to ensure antibiotic treatment efficacy and to take action to reduce the spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria in a hospital setting.

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).

Aiming to educate individuals and health care providers about resistant bacteria’s negative influence on their long-term health, Europe launched a project in 2007: Burden of resistance and disease in European nations (Burden) since the Department of Health identified the lack of data on antibiotics (as cited in Kaier et al. 493). In response to this strategy, United Kingdom’s Department of Health and Environment implanted an antimicrobial resistance strategy from March 2013 to 2018 to promote the responsible antibiotic use for animals and humans and to enhance the guidelines of monitoring antibiotic use (as cited in While 345). So far, it seems like Europe’s strategies are far ahead than North America who has not yet executed any strategies to reduce antibiotic resistance despite the heavy usage of antibiotics as mentioned earlier. Finally, new guidelines are in place by Europe’s government: NG15 and KTT9. NG15 states recommendations regarding antibiotic stewardship in organizations, which includes monitoring antibiotics, identifying resistance patterns, and providing feedback to prescribers. KTT9 summarizes evidence gained from antibiotic prescribing which “emphasizes the importance of minimizing antibiotic prescribing and using simple generic antibiotics where possible, thereby reserving broad spectrum antibiotics to treat resistant