Study of Bacteria - Essay Example

Bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics making the use of such drugs ineffective. Antibiotic resistance is a situation whereby an antimicrobial drug ceases to have an effect in stopping or killing such microorganisms. Refereeing to antimicrobial, they are substances, both natural and synthetic as well as disinfectants that can kill or hinder the reproduction of microorganisms.

Before antibiotic drugs were discovered in the 1940s, many deaths were arising from sexually transmitted diseases and infections such as tuberculosis. The new drugs enabled the fighting of the diseases possible, however, over time; some of the germs have developed resistance to the drugs.

The most common causes are the inappropriate use or overuse of drugs such as antibiotics in the treatment of people and animals. The germs continuously adapt to their environments and can develop characteristics that are similar to those of others. In using antibiotics, only the weak bacteria are killed while the stronger and more resistant ones survive and continue to multiply. Any germ that successfully develops resistance to a particular drug has the potential of developing resistance to other antibiotics as well, referred to as cross-resistance.

There has also been developed a link between the administering of drugs to animals the development of resistance in humans. Often, the food-producing animals are administered some drugs to prevent infections and boost food production in the agri-food industry. Even the products of plants also get into contact with the chemicals when sprayed to help in the control of or prevention of diseases. Through this, the resistance problem is transferred to the products such as milk and fruits. The most common example is Salmonella which can be transferred from animals to humans via the food chain.

The other causative agent of resistance is an inappropriate diagnosis that leads to inappropriate prescription or failing to take the drugs as prescribed, for instance, failing to complete a dosage. The other challenge and possibility of the drug-resistant germs getting into the country are through imported foodstuffs or international travel.

Antibiotics are used in the killing of bacteria that have managed to make it past our immune system. However, antibiotics are selective poison; only kill the desired bacteria and never the cells in the body. An example is the ear infection whereby inflammation occurs as a result of the action of the natural immune system. Due to the pain, an antibiotic is taken to eliminate the inflammation. The other example is the ability of an antibiotic to inhibit the ability of a bacterium to turn glucose into energy or to construct its cell wall. Due to this, instead of reproducing, the bacterium dies. Read More