However, the use of these drugs has become so widespread that certain microbes have adapted and started resisting them. This is potentially dangerous as it could lead to a lack of effective treatments for certain diseases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 2 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the United States each year. About 23,000 people die from it.
Additionally, one in 25 patients in the Trusted Source's hospital will have a hospital-acquired infection (HAI) on any given day.
In this article, we look at the causes of antimicrobial resistance, some specific examples, and other treatment options.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or drug resistance, develops when microbes, including bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses, no longer respond to a drug that previously treated them effectively.
RAM can cause the following issues:
- some infections are harder to control and stay in the body longer
- longer hospital stays which increase the economic and social costs of infection
- increased risk of disease spread
- a higher risk of death from infection
- A major concern is that antimicrobial resistance could lead to a post-antibiotic era in which antibiotics no longer work.
This would mean that common infections and minor injuries that were easily treated in the 20th century could once again be fatal.
Antibiotic versus antimicrobial resistance
It is important to distinguish between antibiotic and antibiotic resistance.
- Antimicrobial resistance refers to bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) describes the resistance of a microbe to drugs that scientists have developed to kill it.
RAM can grow in bacteria, but it can also come from fungi, parasites, and viruses. This resistance could affect people with Candida, malaria, HIV and a host of other conditions.
Microbial behavior
Once scientists have introduced a new antimicrobial drug, it is very likely that it will eventually become ineffective.
This is mainly due to changes within the microbes.
These changes can occur in different ways:
Mutation: When microbes multiply, genetic mutations can occur. Sometimes this creates a microbe with genes that help it survive against antimicrobials.
Selective pressure: Microbes carrying these resistance genes survive and multiply. The newly created resistant microbes eventually become the dominant type.
Gene Transfer: Microbes can take genes from other microbes. Genes that confer drug resistance can be easily transferred between microbes.
Phenotypic change: Microbes can change some of their properties to become resistant to common antimicrobial agents.
People’s behavior
How people use antimicrobial drugs is a major factor. For example:
Misdiagnosis: Doctors sometimes prescribe antimicrobials "just in case" or prescribe broad-spectrum antimicrobials when a particular drug would be more appropriate. Using these drugs in this way increases the risk of AMR.
Abuse: If a person does not complete their antimicrobial treatment, some microbes may survive and develop resistance to the drug.
Resistance can also develop when people take drugs for conditions they cannot treat. For example, people sometimes take an antibiotic for a viral infection.
Use in agriculture: The use of antibiotics in livestock can promote drug resistance. Scientists have found drug-resistant bacteria in meat and food cultures that have been exposed to fertilizers or contaminated water. In this way, diseases that affect animals can spread to humans.
Hospital use: Seriously ill people are often given high doses of antimicrobial agents. This promotes the spread of RAM microbes, especially in an environment where various diseases are present.
The reliable source from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes that doctors often prescribe antibiotics to treat a sore throat. However, only 15% of sore throats are due to strep throat. In many cases, antibiotics cannot cure a sore throat.
The FDA adds that doctors write "tens of millions" of antibiotic prescriptions each year that are of no benefit.
People who take these drugs are at risk of developing AMR. This could make them more likely to have a health problem in the future that doesn't respond to antibiotics.
Examples of resistance
Antibiotic resistance can occur in bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.
Tuberculosis (TB): This airborne lung disease is caused by a bacterial infection. Tuberculosis was a leading cause of death before antibiotics became available. More recently, drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis have emerged around the world. Standard antibiotic treatments are not effective against these forms of the disease.
A person with non-drug resistant TB needs to be treated with multiple drugs daily for 6-9 months.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis is more complex to treat. The person must take the drugs for a long time and must be closely monitored. Mismanagement can lead to deaths.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): This is a bacterial infection that can be fatal. People usually catch MRSA when they are hospitalized.
In the past, it was a well-controlled infection, but today the CDC Trusted Source considers it a major public health concern due to antibiotic resistance.
Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the United States and elsewhere. Cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea have appeared.
Today, there is only one type of drug that is still effective against the drug-resistant form of this disease.
Read Also : What is the difference between canine flu and kennel cough?
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However, the use of these drugs has become so widespread that certain microbes have adapted and started resisting them. This is potentially dangerous as it could lead to a lack of effective treatments for certain diseases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 2 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the United States each year. About 23,000 people die from it.
Additionally, one in 25 patients in the Trusted Source's hospital will have a hospital-acquired infection (HAI) on any given day.
In this article, we look at the causes of antimicrobial resistance, some specific examples, and other treatment options.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or drug resistance, develops when microbes, including bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses, no longer respond to a drug that previously treated them effectively.
RAM can cause the following issues:
This would mean that common infections and minor injuries that were easily treated in the 20th century could once again be fatal.
Antibiotic versus antimicrobial resistance
It is important to distinguish between antibiotic and antibiotic resistance.
RAM can grow in bacteria, but it can also come from fungi, parasites, and viruses. This resistance could affect people with Candida, malaria, HIV and a host of other conditions.
Microbial behavior
Once scientists have introduced a new antimicrobial drug, it is very likely that it will eventually become ineffective.
This is mainly due to changes within the microbes.
These changes can occur in different ways:
Mutation: When microbes multiply, genetic mutations can occur. Sometimes this creates a microbe with genes that help it survive against antimicrobials.
Selective pressure: Microbes carrying these resistance genes survive and multiply. The newly created resistant microbes eventually become the dominant type.
Gene Transfer: Microbes can take genes from other microbes. Genes that confer drug resistance can be easily transferred between microbes.
Phenotypic change: Microbes can change some of their properties to become resistant to common antimicrobial agents.
People’s behavior
How people use antimicrobial drugs is a major factor. For example:
Misdiagnosis: Doctors sometimes prescribe antimicrobials "just in case" or prescribe broad-spectrum antimicrobials when a particular drug would be more appropriate. Using these drugs in this way increases the risk of AMR.
Abuse: If a person does not complete their antimicrobial treatment, some microbes may survive and develop resistance to the drug.
Resistance can also develop when people take drugs for conditions they cannot treat. For example, people sometimes take an antibiotic for a viral infection.
Use in agriculture: The use of antibiotics in livestock can promote drug resistance. Scientists have found drug-resistant bacteria in meat and food cultures that have been exposed to fertilizers or contaminated water. In this way, diseases that affect animals can spread to humans.
Hospital use: Seriously ill people are often given high doses of antimicrobial agents. This promotes the spread of RAM microbes, especially in an environment where various diseases are present.
The reliable source from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes that doctors often prescribe antibiotics to treat a sore throat. However, only 15% of sore throats are due to strep throat. In many cases, antibiotics cannot cure a sore throat.
The FDA adds that doctors write "tens of millions" of antibiotic prescriptions each year that are of no benefit.
People who take these drugs are at risk of developing AMR. This could make them more likely to have a health problem in the future that doesn't respond to antibiotics.
Examples of resistance
Antibiotic resistance can occur in bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.
Read Also : What is the difference between canine flu and kennel cough?Tuberculosis (TB): This airborne lung disease is caused by a bacterial infection. Tuberculosis was a leading cause of death before antibiotics became available. More recently, drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis have emerged around the world. Standard antibiotic treatments are not effective against these forms of the disease.
A person with non-drug resistant TB needs to be treated with multiple drugs daily for 6-9 months.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis is more complex to treat. The person must take the drugs for a long time and must be closely monitored. Mismanagement can lead to deaths.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): This is a bacterial infection that can be fatal. People usually catch MRSA when they are hospitalized.
In the past, it was a well-controlled infection, but today the CDC Trusted Source considers it a major public health concern due to antibiotic resistance.
Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the United States and elsewhere. Cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea have appeared.
Today, there is only one type of drug that is still effective against the drug-resistant form of this disease.