The Misuse of Antibiotics and Bacterial Resistance

When an antibiotic is given to kill bacteria sometimes some of the bacterial can survive because it is adapting to its environment. The surviving bacteria will pass on their resistant genes from generation to generation. An example of a bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics is Tuberculosis. It is a contagious bacteria that infects the lungs. Over the years Tuberculosis has become resistant to multiple antibiotics due to directional selection.

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 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).

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

For a bacterium to become resistant a change in its DNA must occur. This can happen in more than one way. Bacterium may gain resistance through spontaneous mutation within the bacterium’s DNA. This occurs when a single amino acid that makes up a protein changes arrangement, the order of the peptide chain (made up of amino acids, joined together to make up proteins) then the purpose of the protein in the DNA changes. This causes the genetic makeup of the cell to alter. If the mutation is of benefit and gives the bacteria resistance, once all the other none resistant strains of bacteria are killed, the resistant bacteria multiplies and reproduces, creating a new strain of bacteria which is resistant to the antibiotic in hand. Once a resistance gene is obtained and inserted into the DNA, the bacterium can dominate other bacteria and

Resistant bacteria form from the overuse of antibiotics. What happens is, an antibacterial drug is

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.

There is much speculation about what has caused the increased resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and how this problem has developed.

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.

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 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 resistance of bacteria to antibiotics has become so strong that some (although very few) bacteria have become completely resistant to all antibiotics that are considered safe and can only be treated with potentially harmful and toxic drugs. In a recent study undertaken, it was concluded that twenty five percent of all bacterial pneumonia cases were completely resistant to penicillin and that twenty five percent of all these cases were resistant to more than one antibiotic. If we do not start

The principle of antibiotic resistance revolve around how antibiotics work. Antibiotics target certain structures on bacteria such as their cell wall, proteins, and nucleic acids that results in the disruption and/or inhibition of their growth. These disturbances can sometimes lead to bacterial death. In order to survive, bacteria have developed countermeasures to fight against the harmful drugs. This was carried out by targeting the antibiotics themselves. The way antibiotics function is based on their chemical structure. Because many antibiotics have similar structures, they are also grouped in that way. Each class (or family) have similarities in their structure and in turn, have similarities in their target of action. Consequently, these similarities make it easy for the bacteria to construct resistance to different and multiple classes of antibiotics. Mechanisms that will be discussed all involve bacteria’s ability to prevent antibiotics from reaching its target by means of target alteration, drug detoxification, impermeability and efflux.

“Drug companies promote the use of their products through wide spread advertising and the practice of giving free samples of the more potent, broad- spectrum antibiotics to doctors” (Fuhrman,1). This only help the sales for drug companies and introducing newer, better medicine to the public. However, creating new medicines are causing prices to skyrocket, making it harder for the public to be able to afford the medication that is needed. With new antibiotics coming out people stand a greater chance becoming antibiotic-resistant with more access of these prescriptions. Now, that I have talked about the misuse of

It is vital for the global community to recognize the dangers of antibiotic resistance and the importance of addressing it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today” (INSERT CITATION). Before the development of antibiotics, infectious diseases, such as bacterial meningitis and strep throat, killed thousands of people, especially children, a year. These once-fatal diseases are now easily treatable with antibiotics. However, the rise of antibiotic resistance threatens to make these diseases fatal once again. Compounding the issue of increasing resistance is the slow development of new antibiotics. Only two new classes of antibiotics have been developed and placed on the marker in the past few decades (Battle super bugs citation). Antibiotic resistance has tremendous implications for global health and economics, as discussed in this section.