Article # 2
Emergence of highly antibiotic resistant ‘ Superbugs ’ and the implications of antibiotic resistance
Gurniak Johal
Keywords :
Antibiotic resistance ; superbugs ; methicillinresistant staphylococcus aureus ; penicillin-binding protein 2a
DOI :
Emergence of highly antibiotic resistant ‘ Superbugs ’ and the implications of antibiotic resistance
Abstract
Many types of bacteria are now insensitive to antibiotics , the drugs which were designed to kill them ; this insensitivity is known as antibiotic resistance ( AR ). Horizontal gene transfer ( HGT ) is responsible for widely distributing antibiotic resistance among bacteria . ‘ Superbugs ’, such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA ), are particularly evasive , with resistance to several different antibiotics . The expression of high levels of resistance in these bacteria is due to novel , non-standard , proteins , including Penicillin-Binding Protein 2a ( PBP2a ), which allows MRSA to survive in the presence of antibiotics , even when other kinds of Staphylococcus aureus ( SA ) cannot . Unnecessary antibiotic use is mainly to blame for the development of AR , with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that nearly 50 % of all US antibiotic use in outpatients is inappropriate . Other factors include ease of availability , and public unawareness ; in a concerning recent study of around 55,000 members of the public , around 15,000 said they had never heard of antibiotic resistance . AR in the bacterium Heliobacter pylori ( H . pylori ) has resulted in antibiotic-based therapy success rates dropping by 17 % for nitroimidazole therapies , and 36 % for bismuth therapies . The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) says that hospitals may be required to spend up to an extra US $ 40,000 to treat resistant infections . Current predictions show the resistance crisis worsening significantly by 2050 ; changes must be made now to contain antibiotic resistance before it is too late
Context
Introduction to antibiotic resistance
Antibiotics are drugs that are designed to kill bacteria . In recent years , many bacteria have become immune to these drugs , meaning that they can no longer be killed by them – this is what is known as antibiotic resistance .
When an antibiotic is used on a population of bacteria , a small number of bacteria in the population may not be killed , due to a random genetic change , or mutation , emerging in their DNA that allows them to survive . These surviving bacteria are now the only ones that can reproduce , so the genetic change will be passed on
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