Introduction:
Antibiotics have the ability to kill or hinder the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics contain compounds that are naturally produced by organisms to combat diseases caused by microbes. Discovery of penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming became the first stepping stone of many new antibiotics of today’s modern medicine. Antibiotics typically invade the very components that make up bacteria, such as cell walls and metabolic pathways (Sato et al., 2014). However, frequent mutations of bacteria cause today’s strains to become more resistant. One of many ways which bacteria undergo mutation is through horizontal transfer of genes (Lindsay J.A., 2013). The war against disease is a battle that humanity has fought for centuries, and only recently has the development of penicillin switched that tide of war in our favor. However, with the advent of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus and even vancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus, the prospect of this battle is not promising (Bobenchik et al., 2013). Thus, it is crucial to test bacteria for antibiotic resistance to utilize antibiotics that battle with bacteria properly.
The Kirby-Bauer experiment supplements the knowledge of sensitivity and selection of antibiotics to combat infectious bacteria using appropriate antibiotics. It helps to determine which antibiotic is resistant or susceptible to certain bacteria (Barry et al., 1979). Twelve different types of antibiotics were dispensed on a large Mueller-Hinton agar plate containing Enterobacteriaceae. These antibiotics include AmC-30, AZM-15, CF-30, CIP-5, GM-10, P-10, PIP-100, PB-300, RA-5, SD-0.25, Te-30, and Va-30. Successful antibiotic effects will be seen through clear and circular inhibition zones around the ant...
... middle of paper ...
...cial roles in modern medicine. But the emergence of microbial resistance has increasingly limited their effectiveness in the past two decades (Schmidt, 1994). The overuse of antibiotics in clinical practices and everyday life substances, such as antibacterial soap, has been found responsible for such resistance. Due to frequent mutations of microbes, researchers and scientists have to consider multiple strategies to combat microbes. As a society, we need to thrive to understand the effects of antibiotics and develop newer methods to contain antimicrobials. Furthermore, we need to emphasize the danger of unfinished antibiotics that could potentially lead to higher percentage of microbial resistance. Preventing and developing novel methods to impede the spread of antibiotic resistance is a way to keep today’s antibiotics effective and to sustain future generations.
Head scientist of the antibiotic research center at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ohio, Gerry Wright, has studied the genes of 500 streptomyces strains, a type of bacteria, many of which had never previously been identified. All 500 strains held antibiotic-resistance genes and on average were resistant to 8 of 21 tested antibiotics (Sachs). With an average resistance rate as high as 67 percent in some of these streptomyces species, it is evident that antibiotic-resistance is a rising problem. Regardless of the countless studies proving antibiotic-resistance and articles about the subject, it is one the public knows little about. With such a history of antibiotic benefits, it is difficult to perceive the negative affects these drugs have. This is the main reason antibiotic studies are disregarded. If the large majority of the population continues to do little to avert antibiotic-resistance, bacteria will evolve beyond medical treatment. Actions must be taken by the community as a whole, and even further by the individual, to “reduce the spread of microbes and improve our defense against them” (Schmidt 272). Although antibiotic resistance is inevitable, humans are accelerating the natural defense of microbes through the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has presented many problems in our society, including an increased chance of fatality due to infections that could have otherwise been treated with success. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but overexposure to these drugs give the bacteria more opportunities to mutate, forming resistant strains. Through natural selection, those few mutated bacteria are able to survive treatments of antibiotics and then pass on their genes to other bacterial cells through lateral gene transfer (Zhaxybayeva, 2011). Once resistance builds in one patient, it is possible for the strain to be transmitted to others through improper hygiene and failure to isolate patients in hospitals.
Scoffield, H. (2011, October 03). Ottawa to review safety of key ingredient in anti-bacterial soaps. The
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacteria that is abundant in many places. It can even be found in some of our bodies. These bacteria are harmless as long as none of them are Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methicillin is the name of a family of antibiotics that includes penicillin. This MRSA is the deadly superbug that has developed resistant to antibiotics. Statistics show that MRSA contributes to more US deaths than does HIV. It has become a huge threat to every country as the outbreaks can be a surprising one. This threat is caused by the evolution of the bacteria. These superbugs have evolved a resistance of antibiotics which makes them extremely difficult to treat. One article states, “In the early 1940s, when penicillin was first used to treat bacterial infections, penicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus were unknown — but by the 1950s, they were common in hospitals. Methicillin was introduced in 1961 to treat these resistant strains, and within one year, doctors had encountered methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Today, we have strains of MRSA that simultaneously resist a laundry list of different antibiotics, including vancomycin — often considered our last line of antibacterial defense.” [1]
Acquired antimicrobial resistance generally can be ascribed to one of five mechanisms. These are production of drug-inactivating enzymes, modification of an existing target, acquisition of a target by-pass system, reduced cell permeability and drug removal from the cell. (Sefton) Also a bacterium that was once prone to an antibiotic can gain resistance through alt...
“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.
“But how did it come to this?” you’re probably asking yourself. Humans may have been studying antibiotics, but so were bacteria – and they’ve b...
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.
Antibiotic resistance evolves naturally through natural selection via random mutation, but it could also be engineered by applying an evolutionary stress on a population. The antibiotic action is an environmental pressure; those bacteria which have a mutation allowing them to survive will live on to reproduce. They will then pass this trait to their offspring, which will be a fully resistant generation. Studies at the Finnish Academy found that using one type of antibiotic increases the resistance of bacteria to other types of antibiotics as well. Antibiotics do not work against illnesses t...
The threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria emerging through the increase in usage of antibiotics has become a global health concern. Antibiotic resistance bacteria cause infections that are unable to be treated by normal measures that lead to prolonged illness and greater risk of death. The number of antibiotic resistant strains threatens health security, the control of infectious disease, increases the cost of health care, and can damage trade (World Health Organization, 2013). Animal husbandry and the use of sub-therapeutic antibiotics in animal feed are listed as two of the major factors leading to the acceleration and sprea...
Antibacterial soap has been a product on the market that people have trusted for many years to knock out germs and keep them from getting sick. New data, research, and rules that are surfacing have the potential to change the product’s popularity. Antibacterial soap is ineffective and should be taken off of the market because the chemicals in it can be harmful, too much exposure can cause resistance to antibiotics, and it has not been proven to have more of an effect than regular soap and water.
Antibiotics have been vital tools in the fight against bacterial infections, however their effectiveness has waned in recent times due to the advent of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. According to a review by P, the uses of antibiotics, as well as influences from the environment have allowed such bacterial strains to respond to changes in their environment rapidly, and so develop resistance. This acquired ability can have serious and broad implications in the medical field, evident in a study by O into the resistance of intestinal Staphylococcus aureus.
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...
The most effective way to combat pathogenic bacteria which invade the body is the use of antibiotics. Overexposure to antibiotics can easily lead to resistant strains of bacteria. Resistance is dangerous because bacteria can easily spread from person to person. Simple methods for preventing excessive bacterial spread are often overlooked. Not all preventative measures are even adequate. Doctors and patients often use antibiotics unnecessarily or incorrectly, leading to greater resistance. Antibiotics are used heavily in livestock and this excessive antibiotic use can create resistant bacteria and transfer them to humans. In order to reduce resistant 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...