Antibiotics Essay

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. Streptococcus pneumoniae ( responsible for causing strep throat and other throat infections ) are spreading throughout communities at an alarming rate, and antibiotics used to treat Streptococcus pneumoniae are becoming increasingly ineffective as a result of the antibiotic being prescribed to so many people so ofte... ... middle of paper ... ... animals can become infected as the meat is infested with pathogens. There is furious debate over the issue of overuse of antibiotics to treat animals. I believe that to solve this crisis of increasingly resistant bacteria, we all have to take initiative. Of course antibiotics should not be prescribed so freely, but i think that it all falls down to a matter of education. If people were educated on this matter, they would realise that they should not be taking antibiotics more than once every three years and they would ask their medical practitioner for alternative ways of dealing with their illness. Better diets and a more active lifestyle will help a person keep healthy and strong as well. I believe that more research should be done into bacteria and that we should devote much of our research into finding alternative ways in which we can cure illnesses.