Antibiotic Overuse The Deadly Dilemma

Antibiotic Overuse the Deadly Dilemma:

Are we killing ourselves trying to stay healthy?

Heather Alexandre

Microbiology

Bio 175

Instructor Suzanne Berryhill

October 21, 2014

Abstract:

One of the greatest advancements to come out of the twentieth century is the discovery of antibiotics. They we invented with the mind to cure horrible infections but have we as a people gone too far in our use of them. Penicillin the first antibiotic to be discovered is nearly useless in the United States because the bacteria’s we are fighting have become resistant to it, as well as many other antibiotics. We are now facing a global crisis because of antibiotic resistance. The World Health Organization states that the top three threats in the world are A.I.D.S, tuberculosis, and antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are used in preventative measures for healthy farm animals and to aid their growth; in most cases of prescribed antibiotics they are unnecessary or completely unhelpful. So why are doctors prescribing them anyway and would a governmental regulation on them help as it has in other countries? What are the ramifications we face as a people if we do not get antibiotic resistance under control? These are just some of the questions we should have been asking for a long time, other countries seem to have found the answer, why can’t the United States?

Introduction:

In 1928 Alexandre Flemming made a chance discovery that changed the tide of human existence, the discovery of penicillin. We could now fight infections that previously had killed people; we were given a tool to use towards survival. Since then a number of other antibiotics have been invented, the main ones being Penicillin’s and their derivatives (amoxicillin), Cephalosporin’s ...

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