The CDC describes antibiotic resistance as “what happens when germs lik bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. This means that the germs are not killed and continue to grow”. This is a very simplified version of what antibiotic resistance is , but for our intents and purposes it describes exactly what is meant by antibiotic resistance.
Penicillin, the first antibiotic used on the public and sold/marketed was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. Ever since its discovery, the antibiotic resistance has been an issue, scientists then were just not aware that antibiotic resistance could become an issue. According to the CDC, just 24 years after its release (1943) , scientists identified a resistant germ, Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Many scientists believe that the antibiotic crisis can be attributed to misuse or overuse of the medications. This has led to what are now known as “superbugs”. Superbugs are bacteria that cannot be treated by any antibiotic, because they have developed a resistance to most antibiotics. According to the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis, there is a direct relationship between antibiotic consumption and the emergence of resistant bacteria strains. They state, “ In bacteria, genes can be inherited from relatives or can be acquired from nonrelatives on mobile genetic elements such as plasmids. This horizontal gene transfer (HGT) can allow antibiotic resistance to be transferred among different species of bacteria”
One article in the Journal of Dairy Science links the effect of commercial antibiotic use in dairy cattle with the rise of antibiotic resistant organisms. The article primarily claims B-lactams and tetracyclines are used in dairy cattle to heal bacterial infections in cattle as well as fatten some other meats. These antibiotics can be found in the soil as residues, the same soil in which we grow many of our fresh fruits and vegetables. The authors of this article claim that that is partially the reason that antibiotic resistance is so high, as we consume antibiotics unknowingly from meats as well as their residues from fresh vegetables.
One article from the International Journal of Food Microbiology did a study to see the effects of growing chickens without using antibiotics could possibly change their gut microbiota. The article acknowledges the fact that since the introduction of antibiotics in commercial farming, there has been a rise in the amount of antibiotic resistant E.coli in chickens. This has raised fear in communities, afraid of what these resistant E.coli can do. In basic terms, the study concluded that chickens grown with less antibiotics or no antibiotics had a significantly less amount of antibiotic resistant E.coli found in the gut, which decreases the chance of transmission to humans.
The fact that antibiotics were discovered a little over 100 years ago, and we are starting to lose their effects is very scary. People are using them for dumb things (like a viral infection), they aren’t taking their full dose, and health care workers can be guilty of prescribing them nonchalantly. I feel the federal government or someone, should be cracking down on the use of antibiotics in health care settings. They are a miracle drug. I would hate to imagine life without antibiotics, because many of us I know would die from a simple bacterial infection. It’s sad that it’s up to our generations to fix what old people, who are probably dead and gone, started so many years ago.
Madison's Microbiology Masterpiece 