How Superbugs Become Super - Research Paper Example

After Megan McArdle narrated the life and death of George Orwell, who died from tuberculosis, I cannot forget her words: “It seems a medieval end for a very modern man” (474). Her words unnerved me for it means that despite the technological advances we have attained in the field of medicine, it is still possible for modern-day citizens to die from drug-resistant medieval diseases. If we do not respond to the problem of superbugs, our future will most likely be filled with superbug-related morbidity and mortality. The essays from McArdle, the Scientific American, and Sharma opened my eyes to the urgency of research on and policymaking regarding superbugs. I chose the topic of writing a policy that urges the government to provide financial incentives for antibiotic research, controls how healthcare workers prescribe antibiotics, bans the use of antibiotics for non-related applications in the agricultural sector, and prohibits the sale of over-the-counter antibiotics. My research questions are: How did superbugs develop? What are the current effects of superbugs on society? What can stakeholders do to prevent the development of superbugs and to resolve the national and global health issue of drug resistance?
The starting points of my research are the essays from McArdle, the Scientific American, and Sharma, wherein McArdle gives an overview of the superbug problem and offers potential economic and legislative solutions. If the government and other stakeholders do not do anything about this problem, bacterial infection will rise, and this will afflict and kill many people. At the same time, antibacterial medication prices will increase, which will prevent low-income people from receiving treatment that will help them survive drug-resistant diseases. To know more about the effects of superbugs on society and their historical development, I used the keywords “superbug drug resistance” in searching for relevant articles in EBSCOHost databases. I limited the publication years to 2009 to the present and came up with 525 articles. I selected Walsh and Fischbach’s Scientific American article because they described the effects of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the rise of deaths in the U.S. They also explained how MRSA developed. They further explored how new scientific approaches can resolve the resistance problem. While going through hundreds of search results, I also came across Leclercq’s article. He provided an update on drug resistance issues and the challenges in designing new antibacterial medication.
Aside from McArdle, the Scientific American article from the textbook showed the connection between antibiotics and agricultural problems. While researching the effects and development of drug-resistant bacteria, I came across a lengthy article from Lessing. Lessing provides a useful section on the history of antibiotic use in the agricultural industry, which resulted in drug-resistant bacteria that afflict human beings. She shows how the quest for increasing profits produced ill consequences for human health in general. Lessing advocates citizen action because so far, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congress have not produced meaningful legislative gains that ban antibiotic use for non-therapeutic purposes in the agricultural sector. To gain deeper knowledge on antibiotic use in agriculture, I further searched for articles using the keywords “drug resistance antibiotic livestock United States” in EBSCOhost. I found the article from Love et al. They described the history of medicated feeds, the nature of free-choice medicated feeds (FCMF) use and U.S. policies that tackle antimicrobial drug use in food animals. Their article is important because they balance policy considerations with agricultural realities and needs. Aside from this article, Sapkota et al.’s study captured my attention because they examined the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus on conventional poultry farms that shifted to organic practices in America. They learned that the deliberate removal of antibiotics from large-scale poultry farms that converted to organic practices exhibited a lower incidence of antibiotic-resistant and MDR Enterococcus.
Sharma underscored the urgency of the problem, arguing that without actions today, we will encounter a global health problem in the future. Unlike McArdle, Sharma focused on the healthcare initiative to resolve this problem. I wanted to learn more about diverse policies that can respond to drug resistance problems, so I looked up the terms “drug resistance policy superbug the United States” in EBSCOhost. I found the article from Towse and Sharma. Their article describes the policy development for drug resistance issues in the EU and the U.S. They also defined five economic challenges to engaging an efficient R&D resolution to antimicrobial resistance. Finally, I searched for CATO’s and the Hudson Institute’s take on drug resistance policy. I accessed Rubin’s article, “The FDA’s Antibiotic Resistance.” 
After going through these articles, some of the questions I want to further research are: Why is the federal government not aggressively promoting R&D on and screening of antimicrobial resistance? What should a policy consider to be seen as a win-win solution for all stakeholders? Read More