Antibiotic Resistance

Scientists earned great recognition when antibiotics were developed and introduced. They called it the “wonder drug” because of its powerful effect in controlling bacterial diseases. Still, it took several years before the society discovered the dark side of its long term use. As antibiotics become a source of treatment, bacteria began to evolve and antibiotic resistance was the response. What is antibiotic resistance? Antibiotic resistance is the ability of the bacteria to fight the destructive effect of an antibiotic, hence, giving no relief at all to the patient. These antibiotic resistant bacteria are bacteria resistant to antibiotics also known as “super bugs” as they are immune to the effect of more that five antibiotics.

From a medical journal published recently, there have been many researchers and antibiotic resistance articles involving the literature of the nature of antibiotic resistance bacteria. They discuss the global perspective on antibiotic resistance of some mutant bacteria which have the tendency to resist any antibiotics. Because of this, development of new antibiotics is now racing to battle the change in the microbial world. One third of the strains of the salmonella, bacteria that cause severe and fatal diarrhea, are resistant to a few antibiotics. In the United States, tuberculosis-causing bacteria are now resistant to every antibiotic. This bacteria antibiotic resistance provides a great pathway for many more important and life saving projects. They involve culturing of disease-causing bacteria that will be used to further researches and studies that can be potential prevention of this serious problem in medical science.

Furthermore, consequences of antibiotic resistance still arise even as new development follows and this, in a way, serves as the driving force for the field of medicine. It provides the world accurate and precise updates on their research. In the case of tuberculosis, the medicine needed to treat this disease caused by bacteria with antibacterial resistant properties costs one hundred times more than those medicines needed to treat nonresistant TB. Other consequences are the risk of complications or even death and side effects can be severe.

Aside from the research regarding the antibiotic resistance genes by geneticists, other forms of resistance are also being considered such as beta-lactam antibiotic resistance and livestock antibiotic resistance. This development must be an overall study and must be aimed at the slowing down or even stoppage of the evolution of the drug-resistant bacteria. From history, we have learned that everything in this world is related to everything else. We can be affected by each single minute organism, and bacteria are only one of them. Therefore, new treatment strategies should be used to help patients in the most convenient amount of time.