Conflict With the Resistance
THE ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
Diving Deeper Into the Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance is a natural occurrence that involves the evolution of microorganisms towards resistance against the drugs and medication used in modern society. It is becoming a more urgent issue in today's world, causing at least two million infections in the US, and over 20,000 deaths in various countries across the globe.
Since the numbers of reported cases and deaths are increasing yearly, what are the causes and effects to antimicrobial resistance; and what can people do to prevent it?
Antimicrobial resistance is sometimes referred to as antibiotic resistance. Some people think these two terms are synonymous. While antibiotic resistance is a type of antimicrobial resistance, the same cannot be assumed the other way around.
Each white circle is a slip of paper that is soaked in different antibiotics. The black circle around most of the paper disks represents the susceptibility of the bacteria to the antibiotics, meaning it will not grow. The leftmost and lower right discs does not have a black circle; illustrating that the bacteria is resistant against the drug.
CAUSES: How Does Antimicrobial Resistance Occur?
With the discovery of penicillin in 1928, development of medicine against infectious diseases has increased since then; along with the complications the drugs have created. As the technology of antimicrobial agents advance, many misunderstandings about the behavior of the drugs are also developed. These misunderstandings include parents misusing antibiotics not for their intended purpose, patients not completing their full prescribed treatment, and physicians over-prescribing drugs; creating a perfect environment for microorganisms to become resistant against the drugs meant to kill it.
Of all the microbes, bacteria and viruses are the common cause of most cases of reported infectious diseases. Bacteria and viruses require different treatments to combat each one, but many people assume that the same drug can be used for both bacterial and viral infections. A parent, for instance, will often give their child antibiotics for their flu, but antibiotics does nothing against viral infections. As the child continues to take antibiotics for an infection the drug cannot cure, the microbes in their body are more exposed to the medications and slowly evolve to become resistant to that type of antibiotics.
EFFECTS: Why is Antimicrobial Resistance So Important?
The development of antimicrobial drugs has progressed the treatment against diseases and has cured previously incurable diseases as well as save many lives. However, with the growing number of antibiotic resistance, the amount of lives saved might be outnumbered by the amount of lives lost.
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The increasing threat of the resistance is proving to be worsening, and its annual death toll is predicted to globally increase in 30 years, with numbers expected to be more than 10 million lives.
Antimicrobial medicine is considered an effective form of chemotherapy and has no doubt helped patients survive cancer. Bacterial infections are frequent complications among cancer patients, and antibiotics can help boost weakened immune systems caused by the infections. However, with current antibiotics becoming less effective, treatments for certain diseases and cancers will be rendered worthless. It will also become more difficult to diagnose cancer.
