Bacteria have recently been found to resist a thousand times their normal dose of antibiotics (Baym et al. 2016). This increasing resistance in bacteria has left scientists searching for a more potent replacement to antibiotics, paving the way to increasing research on phage therapy. However, because the therapeutic use of bacteriophages is a novel discovery, its effectiveness and safety need to be further researched. In this essay, I will explore the safety, the advantages, and the disadvantages of phage therapy. Primarily, because phage therapy is a novel discovery, its safety needs to be explored. The main characteristic that makes bacteriophages safe is their high specificity (Hyman and Abedon 2010). A study revealed that phage therapy …show more content…
The primary advantage of phage therapy is its strikingly high efficiency that demonstrates its competence as an ampicillin. In a study performed on mice, phage therapy was able to eradicate multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosai from all the diagnosed subjects (Vinodkumar et al. 2008). This study shows the efficiency of phage therapy in curing bacterial infections relating to internal medicine. However, phage therapy is not simply limited to internal medicine, as it has many diverse applications. Phage therapy can effectively treat superficial bacterial infections present in dental root canals as well, without any side effects (Stevens et al. 2009). The greatest advantage of phage therapy arises from the very fact that phage therapy is safe for human use (Bruttin and Brüssow 2005). In a research study, multiple human subjects orally consumed a bacteriophage, and two weeks post consumption, no fecal phage was detectable, and no side effects were observed (Bruttin and Brüssow 2005). These advantages of phage therapy provide crucial information to better comprehend the novel topic of phage therapy; however, for a holistic view on this discipline, the disadvantages must also be …show more content…
One primary weakness of phage therapy is its failure to function properly in digestive tracks (Ly-Chatain 2014). When human subjects orally consumed phage particles, fecal E. coli counts failed to decrease (Bruttin and Brüssow 2005). This research demonstrates phage particles’ inability to function properly in areas with a low pH, and their lack of capability in treating diarrheal diseases. Moreover, phage therapy is also not suitable for presumptive treatment. Bacteriophages’ narrow host range, will place limitations on presumptive treatment, which are treatment courses that begin prior to the identification of the pathogen (Hyman and Abedon 2010). Furthermore, a negative stigma around phages is omnipresent due to their unfamiliarity and their characterization as viruses, making them unpopular in society (Loc-Carrillo and Abedon 2011). Phages are able to actively replicate and evolve during manufacturing and use like any living organisms (Loc-Carrillo and Abedon 2011); thus, faith in phage therapy is low. By exhausting the possible disadvantages of phage therapy, full knowledge of the topic of phage therapy can be
...overies and inventions have greatly impacted the present day burden of infectious disease resulting from microbes in an even more populated environment. There are quite a number of microbe vaccines available that make it possible to deal with the threat of emerging microbes as either complete elimination or coexistence perspective
E. Coli and other foodborne illnesses are something that should be of major concern to everybody, becasue nobody is safe from it. It is not something that can be prevented or
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.
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.
Secondary:Curtis, L. (2008). Prevention of hospital-acquired infections: review of non-pharmacological interventions. Journal of Hospital Infection, 69(3), 204-219. Revised 01/20
Over the years humans have tried every possibility to overcome the health problems, spread of epidemics and infections, disease control and have worked towards a healthy society free of disease and health problems. They have succeeded to a great extent. The book “Good germs, bad germs” describes that though the life expectancy is now far more as it was in previous eras. Epidemic problems and infectious diseases are now getting lesser and lesser and humans are being treated successfully. The hygienic conditions have also been improved so as to ensure least growth of microbes, germs, parasites and bacteria. Antibiotics have been invented to address diseases and infections caused by bacteria and viruses. With all these substantial efforts the biologists, physicians and scientists have triggered another epidemic which is even more severe. They have killed those microbes and bacterial species which were human friendly and as a result of either their disruption or mutation, pathogenic bacteria have even become more active and resistant to treatments. This has led to increased ineffectiveness of antibiotic drugs, low immunity and various infections and inflammatory diseases. The chlorinated water for drinking and food processing along with excessive hygienic conditions indicates our fight against these bacteria and germs. Further, these antibiotics are even given to the livestock which becomes our food and as result many of their resistant germs end up in our digestive tract and other organs. Thus, the war against microbes through excessive cleanliness and use of antibiotics has resulted in antibiotic resistance among humans, which has become one of the prominent problems of medical science
Among hospitalized patients around the world, Clostridium difficile is the primary source of infectious diarrhea. Previously, continuously unbalanced intestinal microbiota, usually due to antimicrobials, was deemed a precondition for developing the infection. However, recently, there have been alterations in the biology from virtually infecting the elderly population exclusively, wherein the microbiota in their guts have been interrupted by antimicrobials, to currently infecting individuals within of all age groups displaying no recent antimicrobial use. Furthermore, recent reports have confirmed critical occurrences among groups previously assumed to be of minimal risk—pregnant women, children, and individuals with no previous exposure to antimicrobials, for instance. Unfortunately, this Gram-positive, toxin-producing anaerobic bacterium is estimated to cost US critical care facilities $800 million per year at present, suggesting the need for effective measures to eliminate this nosocomial infection (Yakob, Riley, Paterson, & Clements, 2013).
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.
Infection control is a central concept to every practice of health care providers. Its main objective is to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from both patients and health personnel (Martin et al., 2010). In dental clinic, infection control is a continuous concern for its professionals. They have to contact patients routinely and be exposed to their blood, saliva, dental plaque and pus that may contain infectious pathogens. It is important for the dental professionals to treat these fluids as if they are infectious and special precautions must be taken to handle them. In this essay, I will highlight the scope of infection control practices in dental clinics and the ways through which infectious microorganisms are transmitted in the dental clinic. Also, I will talk about some infection control guidelines implemented in dental clinics and how they meet the needs of the patients. Finally, from a personal perspective, I will mention some factors that affect the implantation of infection control guidelines and procedures.
Since antibiotics, such as penicillin, became widely available in the 1940s, they have been called miracle drugs. They have been able to eliminate bacteria without significantly harming the other cells of the host. Now with each passing year, bacteria that are immune to antibiotics have become more and more common. This turn of events presents us with an alarming problem. Strains of bacteria that are resistant to all prescribed antibiotics are beginning to appear. As a result, diseases such as tuberculosis and penicillin-resistant gonorrhea are reemerging on a worldwide scale (1).
From the years 1340 to 1400, a plague known as Y Pestis - more commonly known as the Bubonic Plague, - ravaged Europe, killing swathes of people each day. By the time it subsided, more than one third of the population of Eeurope would rest in mass graves. We like to think this could never happen again; after all, it would appear that the Plague has been long cured. While it is true that the plagues and many other old age pandemic diseases are now easily treatable with modern medicine, it is important to remember that bacteria, the microscopic creatures that cause disease, are alive too. No cure lasts forever, as bacteria, like humans and other animals, can adapt to the harsh environments of a medically augmented body. Plagues are making a comeback, and we as a species have to do something about it.
The infection is now destroying the bone that supports your teeth. Eliminating bacteria through good oral hygiene is not possible.
Infection control is very important in the health care profession. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, allow themselves to become susceptible to a number of infections. Among the most dreaded of these infections are: hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another infection which has more recently increased in prevalence is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These infections are all treated differently. Each infection has its own symptoms, classifications, and incubation periods. These infections are transmitted in very similar fashions, but they do not all target the same population.
Infection control, a term that describes procedures taken to reduce the spread of infection. The dental office is a place where many people are treated including patients with infectious disease such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and many other highly contagious diseases. It is imperative that in any dental office setting the prevention of the spreading microorganisms from patient to patient, patient to staff, or staff to patient is done in high precaution. Infection control has two main objectives; to protect the patients from harmful pathogens as well as dental team members. Infections can cause or add pain, deteriorate a persons health, and in worst cases even result in death. In order to understand the infection control in a dental facility, you must understand the standard precautions required by organizations that regulate or recommend infection control, the kinds of preventive measures taken, as well as when these measures should be taken.
Furthermore, antiviral agents are not effective against bacteria infections. Likewise, antibiotics are not effective against viral infections. When the wrong medication is prescribed to treat an infection the patient is at risk for drug resistance. “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Without effective antibiotics, the success of major surgery and cancer chemotherapy would be compromised. The cost of health care for patients with resistant infections is higher than care for patients with non-resistant infections due to longer duration of illness, additional tests and use of more expensive drugs” World Health Organization (2016). With that said, the microbe should be properly identified before prescribing any antimicrobial to any