Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria
For about 50 years, antibiotics have been the answer to many bacterial infections.
Antibiotics are chemical substances that are secreted by living things. Doctors
prescribed these medicines to cure many diseases. During World War II, antibiotics
were used to treat infected wounds. It was the beginning of the antibiotic era.
But just when antibiotics were being mass produced, bacteria started to evolve
and became resistant to these medicines.
Antibiotic resistance can be the result of different things. One cause of resistance
could be drug abuse. The more times a person uses the drug, the more it will
decrease its effect on the bacteria. Another cause of resistance is the improper
use of drugs. When patients feel that the symptoms of their disease have disappeared,
they often stop taking the drug prematurely and the bacteria has a chance to
revive.
One antibiotic that will always have a long lasting effect is penicillin. This
was the first antibiotic ever to be discovered. Alexander Fleming was the person
responsible for the discovery in 1928. In his laboratory, he noticed that in
some of his bacteria colonies, that he was growing, were some clear spots. He
realized that something had killed the bacteria in these clear spots, and also
noticed a fungus growth in that area. He then discovered that this mold contained
a substance that killed bacteria and he called it penicillin.
Penicillin became the most powerful germ-killer known at that time. Antibiotics
kill disease-causing bacteria by interfering with their processes. Penicillin
kills bacteria by attaching to their cell walls. Then it destroys part of the
wall. The cell wall breaks apart and the bacteria dies.
After four years, when drug companies started to mass produce penicillin, in
1943, the first signs of penicillin-resistant bacteria started to appear. The
first bacteria that fought penicillin was called Staphylococcus aureus. This
bug is usually harmless but can cause an illness such as pneumonia. In 1967,
another penicillin-resistant bacteria formed. It was called pneumococcus and
it broke out in a small village in Papua, New Guinea. Other penicillin resistant
bacteria that formed are Enterococcus faecium and a new strain of gonorrhea.
Antibiotic resistance can occur by a mutation of DNA in bacteria or DNA acquired
from another bacteria that is drug-resistant through transformation. Penicillin-resistant
bacteria can alter their cell walls so penicillin can not attach to it. The
bacteria can also produce different enzymes that can take apart the antibiotic.
Since antibiotics were so effective, all other strategies to fight bacterial
diseases were put aside. Now since the effects of antibiotics are decreasing
and antibiotic resistance is increasing, new research on how to battle bacteria
is starting.
Antibiotic resistance spreads fast but efforts are being made to slow it. Improving
infection control, discovering new antibiotics, and taking drugs more appropriately
are ways to prevent resistant bacteria from spreading. In developing nations,
measures are being taken to control infections by identifying drug resistant
infections and prevent diseases from spreading. The World Health Organization
began a global computer program that reports any outbreaks of drug-resistant
bacterial infections.
In the early 1900's, the discovery of penicillin began the antibiotic era.
People thought they had finally won the battle with bacteria. But now since
antibiotic resistance is increasing rapidly, new strategies must be developed
to destroy these microbes.
Bibliography:
Bylinsky, Gene. Sept. 5,1995. "The new fight against killer microbes".
Fortune. p. 74-76.
Dixon, Bernard. March 17,1995. "Return of the killer bugs".
New Statesman & Society. p. 29-32.
Levy, Stuart B. Jan. 15,1995. "Dawn of the post-antibiotic era?"
Patient Care. p. 84-86.
Lewis, Ricki. Sept. 1995. "The rise of antibiotic-resistant infections."
FDA Consumer. p. 11-15.
Miller, Julie Ann. June 1995. "Preparing for the postantibiotic era."
BioScience. p. 384-392.
