Antimicrobial Resistance

When antibiotics were first available during World War II, they were very effective in fighting bacterial infections and disease, now the overuse of antibiotics has caused bacteria to become resistant to various antibiotics. The reason why is because some people might be prescribed antibiotics when they do not necessarily need them resulting in the antibiotic becoming ineffective. (over prescribing antibiotics) Preventative medicine might be a cause as well due to vaccinations and immunizations that are frequently given to prevent illness and disease.  The consequences of these situations is that bacteria are able to pass their resistance on to other bacteria resulting in a new evolution of bacteria and their ability to survive because they have acquired an adaptation to the drug. (survival of the fittest)The effect is that these bacteria continue to produce   which eventually causes acceleration in illness and antibiotics for a particular strain eventually stop working.

We can help reduce their resistance by only prescribing antibiotics for sick humans and animals with various strains of bacterial infections and using them only when needed, educating patients about the proper use of antibiotics, reducing usage of fluoroquinolones which cause many adverse drug reactions more than any antibiotic therapy mainly, CNS toxicity, they can also cause potential MRSA infections and C. dificile which are colonizing infections that lead to severe complications.  The major problem here is that we cannot produce antibiotics fast enough to keep pace with bacterial resistance and another problem is that  we have no control over the evolution of bacteria because they change their genetic makeup, plasmids and genetic sequencing over time through genetic transformations which account for the gene plasticity of bacteria. They are always adapting to new environments and acquiring new genes through horizontal transfer, or movement of genetic material between bacteria, a method other than cell division. They exchange genetic material through transformation, conjugation and transduction.

In conclusion, bacteria are always undergoing changes in their genetic variation and their DNA. They are always trying to hide and evade the antimicrobials in order to avoid death.  The ways in which they can do this is by way of the following:

Mutation- A change in the DNA leading to a change in the product of the gene which is the microbial’s target.

Destruction/ Inactivation- Bacteria produce enzymes that degrade or deactivate

If these microbial methods are successful, then it is very likely that resistance will continue to happen.

 Our fate rests in the hands of natural selection involving bacteria. Some bacteria will possess traits that enable them to survive in the presence of a lethal substance. This is an advantageous trait.  If enough bacteria exist with this advantageous trait, the next time antibiotics are selected for this particular microbe, it will be rendered useless because the bacteria have developed the traits to resist it. The only thing that we can do is monitor bacterial resistance and keep educating ourselves on bacteria as they evolve through time.