Some nights I lay awake thinking about the future—thinking about the cities that haven’t been built, the planets that haven’t been found, and the people that I will never get to meet. I am scared for those people. In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, discovered the first natural antibiotic: Penicillin. All of you reading this have at some point in time made use of his discovery. Penicillin antibiotics were among the first drugs to be effective against many previously serious diseases, such as syphilis and infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Antibiotics in general remain one of the cornerstones of modern health care, acting as something we all hope to rely on when we get sick. We could very easily name the 20th century “the age of the antibiotic,” and it would be well deserved, indeed. But time is running out. In its first global report of antimicrobial resistance, released Wednesday, the WHO says “a post-antibiotic era – in which common infections and minor injuries can kill – is a very real possibility for the 21st century…this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right no in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country. Antibiotic resistance…is not a major threat to public health.” Estimates in the U.S. suggest 2 million people get antibiotic-resistance infections each year, and at least 23,000 die because current drugs no longer stop their infections. The WHO cannot provide global statistics, because many countries have no estimates at all. “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... ... middle of paper ... ...—all of it. For the health care force: prescribe the right antibiotic to treat the illness. Only prescribe and dispense antibiotics when they are truly needed. Do what is in your power to enhance infection prevention and control. For the policymakers: foster innovation and research and development of new tools. Promote cooperation and information sharing among stakeholders. This is an issue that affects everyone on the globe in the same way, no matter the size of your wallet. If this becomes as serious of a problem as it has the potential to become, then our lives will fundamentally change. Not only will the landscape of public health policy change, but the idea of safety and security in our health and lives will be forever warped. We must work together to solve this problem—and if not for ourselves, then for those people that I spend my nights dreaming about.
Nurses should take a leading role in reducing the impact of disease on patients and influence the expansion of evidence based infection prevention practice. Antimicrobial resistance prevention must remain a huge priority. In times of opposing priorities concerning patient safety, progress has been made in undertaking these bacteria’s and infections. The outlook of a near future without helpful antibiotics should not be dismissed, and all us in positions of influence should encourage and educate the conscientious use of antimicrobials seriously and do what we can to stop the situation from spreading.
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
Bacteria are living organisms, and as such they have the ability to evolve by mutation and natural selection. This is the process by which random genetic mutations create individuals better suited to their environment, which then live to reproduce. The progeny of this individual will then have this mutation, and so a species evolves. One of the largest problems facing the medical profession today is that harmful, that ...
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.
Not only does antibiotic resistance happen to humans, it also happens to animals, which increases the problem.
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.
. Many doctors and patients are unaware that antibiotics are designed to treat bacterial infections, not viral infections (Antibiotic resistance, N.D.). Many bacteria within our bodies are not harmful at all, and some of them actually provide health benefits. The bacteria that are harmful are disease-causing bacteria, which generate sicknesses such as strep throat, the common cold, and ear infections (Get, 2013). Viruses are smaller than bacteria and require hosts, such as plants or animals, in order to proliferate (What, N.D.). Doctors play a vital role in administering antibiotics, for patients rely on their knowledge and expertise in order to receive proper medication for ailments throughout their lives. According to www.acponline.org, 190 million doses of antibiotics are administered every day. Among patients that do not reside in hospitals, doctors prescribe more than 133 million antibiotic programs every year. Of those 133 million programs, it is estimated that over 50 percent of them are unnecessarily prescribed because the doctor is prescribing them for viral infections such as common colds or simple coughs (Antibiotic resistance, N.D.). However, doctors are not the only ones to blame in regard to misuse of antibiotics because their patients are just as guilty when it comes to ignorance in respect to antibiotic usage. Many preventable factors have emerged because of irresponsibility of patients, including self-medication practices and the temptations of cheap, counterfeit drugs, all of which have aggravated drug resistance in the last 20 years (What, N.D.). Also, many patients are unaware of the dangers that can result from leaving medication behind because they don’t use it. It is extremely ill-advised to leave behind eve...
Rex, and Anderson. Wise antibiotic use in the age of drug resistance. New York: Cohen, 1997. Print.
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.
Every year, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are threatening more and more people. As much of a problem as it is, many people are not educated on the term drug resistance. Since it is such a growing concern, it becomes confusing as to why drug resistance is occurring and what can be done to prevent it. Because drug resistance is such a health problem, determining what it is, how these bacteria can acquire the antimicrobial agents, and the possible solutions to the resistance are the types of actions that need to be taken in order to have a better understanding of how truly powerful these drug resistant bacteria are.
Penicillin, the first antibiotic, was discovered accidentally by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. Sir Fleming was growing bacteria on agar plates and accidentally left one of the plates open. A mould started growing on this. Fleming noticed that no bacteria grew
At his Nobel Peace Prize speech in 1945, Alexander Fleming warned against the misuse of antibiotics and the fact that by doing this, one allows the bacteria to ‘become educated’ and therefore become resistant to the antibiotic. It is believed that the first cases of antibiotic resistance were shortly after this speech. (Fleming, 1945)
Can one imagine the world without antibiotics? It is probably a matter of concern on how we can utilize them to give optimal results and achieve its functionality. With the advent generation, the antibiotics face a huge setback. The resistance of antibiotics is not a fact that comes out of manufacture but rather how we use them. The issue of misuse needs more attention than any other moment in the history. People become more ignorant on the facts of antibiotic usage as the time progresses. The emanating treat of going back to the antibacterial era will come to reality if the trend continues.
But one of the major potential causes of antibiotic resistance is not in human patients at all. Rather, many believe that the excessive use of antibiotics in food animals is among the leading threats to the future of human ability to fight bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance is a threat that has been theorized since the beginning of its medical uses. Even Alexander Fleming, the man considered to be the father of antibiotic medicine, warned in a lecture he gave in 1945 that misuse of penicillin will lead to resistance to bacteria (“The Spread of Superbugs”).... ...
Currently 700,000 have died from antibiotic resistance, which is a lot higher than the statistics for deaths caused by measles, cholera and tetanus combined. This is showing that already, it has already caused a lot of damage, and it continues to spread.(Walsh, 2014)