Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria

1636 Words4 Pages

In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.
In the documentary, Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria, reporter David Hoffman investigates this new untreatable infection along two individuals and a bacterial virus within a hospital. The first individual Hoffman investigates is Addie Rerecich of Arizona, she was treated for a staph infection with antibiotics, but other complications arise. Addie had a lung transplant, she was given several different antibiotics, but her body became pan-bacteria, non-resistance to the bacteria. Addie’s life was on the edge, she had to be on life support, and finally she received new lungs. The transplant helped Addie but it would take years before could go back to normal before the infection. The second individual is David Ricci; he had his leg amputated in India after a train accident. The antibiotic treatment he received became toxic to his body increasing problems. While in India, he underwent surgery almost every day because of infections he was developing. Back in Seattle, doctors found the NDM-1 resistance gene in his body; NDM-1 gene is resistance to almost all antib...

... middle of paper ...

...ine. 2013. .
Friedman JF, Lee GM, Kleinman KP, Finkelstein JA. "Acute Care and Antibiotic Seeking for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections for Children in Day Care: Parental Knowledge and Day Care Center Policies." JAMA Pediatrics 157.4 (2003): 369-374. .
Maanvi Singh. "Despite Many Warnings, Antibiotics Are Still Overprescribed." NPR (2013). .
McKenna, Maryn. "Imagining the Post-Antibiotics Future." Medium (n.d.). 17 5 2014. .
—. "When We Lose Antibiotics, Here’s Everything Else We’ll Lose Too." Weird (2013). .

Show More
Related

  • Addie Rerecich Case Study Answers

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Addie acquired Stenotrophomonas bacterial infection in the hospital. She acquired it from the tubes of the lung bypass machine ECMO which doctors used to try and support her respiration after her

    Read More

  • E. Coli 0157: The True Story Of A Mother's Battle With A Killer Microbe

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    E. Coli 0157, written by Mary Heersink, is a nerve-racking, adrenaline-filled story of a mother's experience with a then unknown deadly bacteria. The book brings up many reactions in its readers, especially the questioning of the practice of doctors in hospitals. The reader's knowledge base of scientific procedures in emergency centers was widened as well as the knowledge of how to the human body reacts to different agents in its system.

    Read More

  • Identifying Two Unknown Species of Bacteria

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...indole, it is motile, there is no urease present and there is no coagulase activity. By deduction and logical reasoning Unknown 10a was determined to be Escherichia coli.

    Read More

  • Unknown Bacteria Lab Report

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this lab project, the microbiology students were given 2 unknown bacteria in a mixed broth each broth being numbered. The goal of this project is to determine the species of bacteria in the broth. They had to separate and isolate the bacteria from the mixed broth and ran numerous tests to identify the unknown bacteria. The significance of identifying an unknown bacteria is in a clinical setting. Determining the exact bacteria in order to prescribe the right treatment for the patient. This project is significant for a microbiology students because it gives necessary skills to them for future careers relating to clinical and research work.

    Read More

  • Addie Rerecich Case Study

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Addie Rerecich was an eleven and a half year of girl who was just as normal as any other kid her age. She played sports and was very social. All that changed one night when she woke up complaining of some pain in her hip. Her mother thought it was just a simple softball injury, so she gave her some ibuprofen and sent her back to bed. When the pain didn’t subside, she was taken to the hospital. Initially the doctors said she had symptoms of a virus. The next day she could breath well and they said she now had pneumonia. When at the hospital the disease specialist said Addie had “community-aquired” resistant staphylococcus MRSA from picking her scabs. This infection caused damage in her lungs and was so bad she was then put on ECMO, total life

    Read More

  • Unknown Bacteria Lab Report

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this laboratory is to learn about cultural, morphological, and biochemical characteristics that are used in identifying bacterial isolates. Besides identifying the unknown culture, students also gain an understanding of the process of identification and the techniques and theory behind the process. Experiments such as gram stain, negative stain, endospore and other important tests in identifying unknown bacteria are performed. Various chemical tests were done and the results were carefully determined to identify the unknown bacteria. First session of lab started of by the selection of an unknown bacterium then inoculations of 2 tryptic soy gar (TSA) slants, 1 nutrient broth (TSB), 1 nutrient gelatin deep, 1 motility

    Read More

  • Lab Report: Growing Bacteria In The School

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    What do bacteria need to grow? For bacteria to grow the most typical thing that they like ate a warm and moist environment, but that is not all that they like. Bacteria also like and environment with a PH that is normal or close to a human PH and bacteria also like an oxygen rich environment. The places that could be common to find bacteria in a building are a keyboard, a water fountain, and restrooms. A keyboard is a common place for bacteria because it is being touched constantly with hands when people type and hands are warm, so bacteria like them. The water fountain is another place that is common for bacteria to grow because people's warm hands are touching it and also it has water, which causes it to be moist. The last place that bacteria will we commonly found in buildings are restrooms. The bacteria like restrooms because many people are in then and also there is a lot of water in them.

    Read More

  • Essay On Unknown Bacteria

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bacteria play a large role in our health, the environment, and most aspects of life. They can be used in beneficial ways, such as decomposing wastes, enhancing fertilizer for crops, and breaking down of substances that our bodies cannot. However, many bacteria can also be very harmful by causing disease. Understanding how to identify bacteria has numerous applications and is incredibly important for anyone planning to enter the medical field or begin a career in research. Having the background knowledge of identifying an unknown bacteria may one day aid healthcare professionals diagnose their patient with a particular bacterial infection or help researchers determine various clinical, agricultural, and numerous other uses for bacteria.

    Read More

  • Superbugs Essay

    2729 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Antibiotic Resistance Is Worrisome

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On Antibiotic Resistance

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Antibiotic Resistance

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • The Overuse of Antibiotics

    3053 Words  | 7 Pages

    Thesis: With the advent of antibiotics in 1929 Fleming said, "The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops.Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant."With the overuse of antibiotics today we have seen this very idea come to be.Over usage is caused most prevalently by a lack of education on the part of the patient.Thus stated, the way to overcome such a circumstance is to educate, not only the patient but also the physician.

    Read More

  • The World's Fight Against Microbes

    2231 Words  | 5 Pages

    face of the Earth long after we and the rest of our cohabitants have left the

    Read More

  • Bacteria

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bacterial cells, like plant cells, are surrounded by a cell wall. However, bacterial cell walls are made up of polysaccharide chains linked to amino acids, while plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, which contains no amino acids. Many bacteria secrete a slimy capsule around the outside of the cell wall. The capsule provides additional protection for the cell. Many of the bacteria that cause diseases in animals are surrounded by a capsule. The capsule prevents the white blood cells and antibodies from destroying the invading bacterium. Inside the capsule and the cell wall is the cell membrane. In aerobic bacteria, the reactions of cellular respiration take place on fingerlike infoldings of the cell membrane. Ribosomes are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the DNA is generally found in the center of the cell. Many bacilli and spirilla have flagella, which are used for locomotion in water. A few types of bacteria that lack flagella move by gliding on a surface. However, the mechanism of this gliding motion is unknown. Most bacteria are aerobic, they require free oxygen to carry on cellular respiration. Some bacteria, called facultatibe anaerobes can live in either the presence or absence of free oxygen. They obtain energy either by aerobic respiration when oxygen is present or by fermentation when oxygen is absent. Still other bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. These are called obligate anaerobes. Such bacteria obtain energy only fermentation. Through fermentation, different groups of bacteria produce a wide variety of organic compounds. Besides ethyl alcohol and lactic acid, bacterial fermentation can produce acetic acid, acetone, butyl alcohol, glycol, butyric acid, propionic acid, and methane, the main component of natural gas. Most bacteria are heterotrophic bacteria are either saprophytes or parasites. Saprophytes feed on the remains of dead plants and animals, and ordinarily do not cause disease. They release digestive enzymes onto the organic matter. The enzymes breakdown the large food molecules into smaller molecules, which are absorbed by the bacterial cells. Parasites live on or in living organisms, and may cause disease. A few types of bacteria are Autotrophic, they can synthesize the organic nutrients they require from inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria are either photosynthetic or Chemosynthetic. The photosynthetic bacteria contain chlorophyll that are different from the plant chlorophyll. In bacterial photosynthesis, hydrogen is obtained by the splitting of compounds other than water.

    Read More

More about Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria

Open Document