Antibiotic Resistance

Since antibiotics started being used in the mid 1930s, physicians and patients have become far to dependent on antibiotics to treat everything from sore throats and acne to syphyilis and tuberculosis. Antibiotics are also used to prevent infections before, during, and after surgeries. Many new antibiotics have been developed over the years, and at one point it looked liked infectious diseases were on the verge of being eliminated. But due to over use health experts have noticed that antibiotics are becoming much less effective due to over use and incorrect use of antibiotics. This happens because of antibiotic resistance, a problem that has hppened because of over use and misuse of antibiotics. Every time an antibiotic is used to treat an infection, it kills the bacteria that cause the infection. But if people do not use all of the antibiotic as directed a few of the bacteria can survive and build a resistance to the antibiotic. This causes bacteria that survive and reproduce, and pass on their antibiotic resistance. Bacteria can reproduce very quickly, spawning a new generation every 15 minutes. These new bacteria are antibiotic resistant and become immune to whatever particular antibiotic being used. The more people use antibiotics, the more immunity a nasty bacterial infection will develop. New antibiotics used to keep at least one step ahead of antibiotic resistant bacteria, but that's not happening any more. Almost every known disease-causing bacterium is now resistant to at least one antibiotic.


People can help keep antibiotic resistance from getting to be an even bigger problem than it already is just by following these simple guidelines.

Do not push your doctor to prescribe an antibiotic for colds or flu. Colds and Flu are illnesses caused by a viral infection, and cannot be treated with an antibiotic. Taking an antibiotic when it is not needed will help the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the body and community.

If your doctor does prescribe an antibiotic ALWAYS be sure to take all the medicine. When a person stops taking the medicine too soon just because he or she feels better only the most vulnerable bacteria are killed and the stronger bacteria develops the resistance to the antibiotic. Any illness caused by the resistant bacteria is much harder to treat. To completely clear up infections and to help prevent antibiotic resistance, take antibiotics exactly as directed.

Scientists are trying to develop ways to insert a resistance marker to be able to check for antibiotic resistance and ways to break down the beta-lactam antibiotic resistance. On a global scale, the development of antibiotic resistant diseases can cause deadly epidemics.