According to Selman Waksman , " an antibiotic is any small molecule made by a microbe that antagonizes the growth of other microbes (Clardy et al. , 2011)." . Antibiotics have been around for thousands of years . "For instance , tetracycline a common antibiotic used for periodontal disease dates back to 350-550 CCE . Traces of it have been found in the bones of human remains in Sudanese Nubia along with the femoral midshafts of human vestiges dating back to the late Roman period in Dakhleh Oasis , Egypt (Clardy et al. , 2011)." . Antibiotics are the most potent form of chemotherapy with a high success rate in the history of medicine . We can associate the "anti-biotic era" with Paul Ehrlich and Alexander Flemming . "Ehrlich is responsible for the method of screening for viable drugs to combat diseases that pharmaceutical companies use (Aminov 2010)." Flemming on the other hand is accountable for the discovery of penicillin on September 3 , 1928 . This was a live saving discovery . The 1950's through the 1970's is known as the Golden Era of discovery for novel antibiotic classes . This was the time where sulfa drugs were discovered , and thousand of other drugs were identified . We entered into the new millennia knowing that the "Golden Era" had come to an end . Globally there had begun alarming increase in antibiotic resistance . With great discoveries also come inordinate problems . From 1944 until much penicillin a common antibiotic used for many bacterial diseases had a wide scale production and its usage increased . Had it not been sent out to the warfront during WWII many of the soldiers would have succumbed to bacterial diseases . Eventually , many of the bacterial species that was intended to kill continued to survive treat...
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...resistant organisms in the population they have a much higher fitness compared to the sensitive population , which results in the dominance of resistance cell types . The discoveries of antibiotics lead to a key improvement in human health in the early 20th century . In a larger context , antibiotics resistance is a continually evolving and dangerous problem that requires immediate attention and future planning . If this problem is not combated it can lead to a bad humanity where death is on the rise from these resistant bacteria with no cure . Efficacy of current therapies is waning and antibiotics are a temporary fix to bacterial multi-drug resistance . The WHO , CDC , and FDA are creating better monitoring systems to detect the rise of drug resistant bacteria . On a global scale antibiotic need to be renewed and have greater frequencies of successful efficacies .
Therefore, local communities must take actions regarding antibiotic-resistance, whether they are awareness programs or state and nationally regulated laws. The act of hindering antibiotic-resistance development is also an individual commitment. People must understand the effects of excess antibiotics and commit to making a difference. These acts may be as simple as not demanding unnecessary antibiotics and finish the entire course when antibiotics are prescribed. Regardless to the natural evolution of bacteria, society must delay the development of antibiotic-resistance within bacteria with humanity has hastened
Resistance arises from mutations that are not under the control of humans, but the evolution of bacteria has been sped along by the overexposure of antibiotics to both people and animals. The number of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in an area is closely related to the frequency that antibiotics that are prescribed (Todar, 2012). Patients often unnecessarily demand antibiotics to treat common colds or simple illnesses that are not caused by bacteria. Instead, these infections are caused by viruses which, unlike bacteria, are unaffected by antibiotics. Incorrect diagnosis can also lead patients to using unnecessary antibiotics, which can sometimes be even more dangerous than otherwise left untreated. Besides the fact that antibiotics kill off beneficial bacteria in the intestines, misuse of antibiotics provides an opportunity ...
Stewart, Philip S, (2001) states that antibiotics are elements that are used to kill, or hinder the multiplication and growth of organisms. Especially, these antibiotics are meant to control fungi and bacteria. In this case, the antibiotics that are used in killing bacteria are referred to as bactericidal, and the ones that are used to prevent the multiplication process are bacteriostatic. The primary microbes for antibiotics are bacteria and fungi. These microorganisms are crucial to facilitate the secretion of substances that kill harmful bacteria which confer competition for the limited available nutrients (Southern, P. J., &Berg, 1981).
Antibiotic resistance is one of the most important issues facing health care today, with wide reaching future implications if abuse continues. In the United States alone, antibiotic resistance is responsible for over two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year. Providers need to be judicious in the disbursement of these life saving pharmacological agents, while being informative of why antibiotics are not always the answer (Talkington, Cairns, Dolen, & Mothershed, 2014). In the case listed below, several issues need to be addressed including perception, knowledge deficit, and the caregiver’s role. This paper will focus on whether a prescription for antibiotics is appropriate and other courses of action that may be taken instead.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describes antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of antibiotic treatment. () So instead of being destroyed by the medications, the bacteria survives and continues to reproduce, resultant in new communicable diseases that even more difficult to treat.
Carroll. Even with widespread controversy over antibiotic resistance, Carroll remained neutral with his writing, pointing out facts that fit both sides of the argument. One of the most important issues addressed in the article was the lack of education when it comes to the proper use of antibiotics. The health of the public would benefit greatly from education about viruses and bacterial infections. Carroll’s article is a good resource for the basis of the topic’s education. The article informs readers about the importance of antibiotics and the development of antibiotic resistance as well as future prevention and research for antibiotic
“Antibiotics" is the name given to the group of chemicals, particularly in medicine, that stop or inhibit the growth of, microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, and parasites, or that kill the microorganism. They are, however, completely ineffective against viruses. There are two kinds of antibiotics, namely; bactericides, which interfere with the cell wall or contents of the bacteria, thereby killing it, and bacteriostatics, which prevent the bacteria from reproducing. They are used to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals. Bacteria are microorganisms consisting of single cells, and reproduce by mitosis. They usually live in colonies. Some bacteria and other microorganisms produce antibiotics to kill off other species, making more resources available for the organism making the chemicals. Ironically, it was this that led to the discovery of antibiotics in 1928, when Alexander Fleming noticed that the fungus Penicillium notatum, which had contaminated a sample of pathogenic bacteria, had killed the bacterial colonies in a petri dish.
Bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics is a major problem not only for the United States, but worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012) the cause is related to “widespread overuse, as well as inappropriate use, of antibiotics that is fueling antibiotic resistance”. According to World Health Organization (2013) resistance is a global concern for several reasons; it impedes the control of infectious diseases, increases healthcare costs, and the death rate for patients with resistant bacterial infections is twice of those with non-resistant bacterial infections.
Diseases can be defeated or endured, if they are embraced. Denied or feared, they can grow and make it drudgery for scientists to manage. For years, South African mortality rates have escalated due to the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotics are used worldwide and although their uses have helped many people, it doesn't come without risk. The use of antibiotics treats people and animals alike to cure infection and are easily excusable through physicians. However in recent years, since antibiotics are used so universally, antibiotic- resistant strains have become a growing problem. This suggest that the bacteria is adapting to the antibiotics and through natural selection, the antibiotic- resistant bacteria have grown in numbers. The scientific community worries about future treatment of diseases if the bacteria continues to adapt. For example tuberculosis which hasn't been a problem in some time, has started to reoccur as a much harder to treat strain. Antibiotics are the go to method of treating infection but we need to be careful when we are using them.
For many years we have become increasingly dependant on antibiotics to fight off the bacteria that cause diseases in our bodies. Many of the diseases these bacteria and microbes cause are infectious. For these reasons, it has been noticed that bacteria and other microbes are becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics prescribed to sick people. Many doctors prescribe antibiotics for common illnesses, yet other medicines such as home remedies and homeopathy could be used instead. As a result, we are using antibiotics too often, as many sources claim we should only be using them once every three years.”Bacteria have shown a remarkable ability to endure and adapt to their environment including the development of different mechanisms of resistance to most old and new antimicrobial agents”. Because of the frequent prescription, the bacteria and microbes that cause these illnesses are exposed to the same type of antibiotics frequently, thus they are able to adapt and build up resilience against these antibiotics. “Bacteria have developed resistance to all different classes of antibiotics discovered to date” . This is a major problem as we rely so heavily on antibiotics to treat serious illnesses that we are running out of options to treat them with. The prescribing of antibiotics for illnesses that are not life-threatening are now resulting in fewer solutions to cure people affected by diseases that can be fatal.
Approximately one year ago in Kentucky, a man went to sleep thinking he might have caught a flu. The next day, he is rushed to the local hospital while coughing up chunks of lung tissue; within a few hours he experiences organ failure and lips into a coma. Over the next two days, two other patients come in with the same symptoms and die almost immediately. This epidemic that swept over this small area in Kentucky was an ultra resistant strain of staph infection known as MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (Eisler, 2013). MRSA and other species of resistant bacteria have arisen from the global overuse of antibiotics. Over the years, resistant strains of bacteria have become more and more difficult to fend of using common antibiotic treatments. If something is not done to stop antibiotic resistance, completely resistant strains of bacteria, which we will be unable to kill through use of antibiotics.
Resistance first appears in a population of bacteria through conditions that favor its selection. When an antibiotic attacks a group of bacteria, cells that are highly susceptible to the medicine will die. On the other hand, cells that have some resistance from the start or acquire it later may survive. At the same time, when antibiotics attack disease-causing bacteria, they also attack benign bacteria. This process eliminates drug-susceptible bacteria and favors bacteria that are resistant. Two things happen, populations of non-resistant and harmless bacteria are diminished, and because of the reduction of competition from these harmless and/or susceptible bacteria, resistant forms of disease-causing bacteria proliferate. As the resistant forms of the bacteria proliferate, there is more opportunity for genetic or chromosomal mutation (spontaneous DNA mutation (1)) or transformation, that comes about either through a form of microbial sex (1) or through the transference of plasmids, small circles of DNA (1), which allow bacteria to interchange genes with ease. Sometimes genes can also be t...
Throughout history disease has run rampant taking many lives with every passing day. Finding a cure or even just a tool in the battle has been the main focus of scientist throughout time. This focus is what brought us the discovery of antibiotics. Over the years antibiotics have been misused by patients, over prescribed by physicians and have led to resistant strains of bacteria.
There are many medical professionals who believe that the rise of antibiotic resistance is a result of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Dr. Jim Wilde, a paediatric emergency medicine physician at the Medical College of Georgia believes that the medical profession is losing the war against resistance...