The Increase of Drug-Resistant Microbes

1600 Words4 Pages

The increase of drug-resistant microbes in the last two decades is fighting against current efforts to battle infectious diseases. By being more resistive to current medication, sicknesses which used to be considered under control are becoming new threats which also make other incurable diseases far more dangerous: TB, pneumonia, malaria, cholera and HIV.

Even though antibiotic resistance affects both industrialized and developing countries, its effect is far worse on developing countries. The problem is that the price gap between cheap first line medications and second line medication is vast which means that a large part of the population don’t have access to original medications. Furthermore some of the multidrug-resistant illnesses can result untreatable in any country, at any price, once all options are exhausted. Pharmaceutical companies are having serious difficulties developing new antibiotics and other medications with enough speed to substitute the ones that have become ineffective.

The inappropriate and prolonged use of antibiotic medications is a fundamental cause of this crisis. On both industrialized and developing countries there is a lot over the counter (OTC) medications. Self-medication and using the wrong medicine or the wrong amount is also part of the problem.

Studies in Canada and the United States show that approximately half of all prescribed antibiotics to ambulatory patients are unnecessary. Even when the prescribed treatment is correct, the patients usually stop taking the medication right after the main symptoms disappear. This increases the risk of drug resisting diseases.

To worsen the situation on some countries counterfeit drugs run on the market. These drugs deliberately use less of ...

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