Is it enough: Antibiotic Resistance & it’s Regulation
Throughout my life, adults have insisted the use of antibiotics to fight against the most inconsequential illnesses, whether it’s the cold or the flu. However, neither illness is due to invasion of bacteria. This misuse can lead to antibiotic resistance, also known as antimicrobial resistance(AMR), currently one of the central issues facing the public health system. While the process for antibiotic resistance occurs naturally through the process of adaptation, the mismanagement of antibiotic resources has accelerated the rate at which the bacteria adapt. The occurrence of this misinformation isn’t limited to a few adults: even some of my peers suggest taking antibiotics when faced with the flu. This leads to asking whether AMR is truly a problem and are present regulations enough to combat the issue.
The confusion begins with the public, and their views on the topic. The research into public perception of antibiotics has occurred multiple times, each leading to a similar conclusion: the lack of awareness leads to false perceptions about the effects of antibiotics. Per the World Health Organization (WHO), surveying 10,000 people, 64% of individuals who responded believed that antibiotics could treat the flu and the cold. This is especially odd since the same percentage of people believed that AMR “is an issue that could affect them and their families” (World Health Organization). Due to the constant confusion, about if
A couple times a year local and national mass media put the spotlight on problems connected to antibiotic overuse. Some people consider those problems to be real and serious, and others think that the discussed topics are nothing more than new “fashionable” subjects to talk about, distracting people from “real” problems, such as climbing gas prices or war expenses. Meanwhile, antibiotic overuse continues as a common practice among US doctors and agribusinesses for the last 20 years. The practice of antibiotic overuse has put patient’s health at risk, contributed to antibiotic resistance and increased bacterial mutation to a new, stronger level; as well as it hitting the economy with new costly expenses in health care. It is time to stop
Research has revealed how overprescribing antibiotic creates several adverse outcomes, including the development of multidrug resistant organisms, Clostridium difficile infection, and increased costs of health care (Myung et al., 2015). The Consumer Report (2015) raised concern for the overuse of antibiotics and how it leads to the loss of the ability to treat serious infections. Doctors,
Antibiotic resistance is becoming a more prevalent issue. This is a growing dilemma because, not only do patients have the potential to develop resistance, but they also can transmit the resistant bacteria to others (McKellar, 2014). Additionally, it is estimated that over one-third of all antibiotics prescribed to patients are unnecessary (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Overutilization of antibiotics is a growing problem due to some patients’ inappropriate demands for antibiotics or misdiagnoses by prescribers, however, underutilization of antibiotics can be just as problematic. Physicians are trained to use good antimicrobial stewardship when prescribing antibiotics; only giving them to patients who truly do have a bacterial infection. This becomes an issue when providers are too cautious and do not prescribe antibiotics in an attempt not to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, this caution could have a detrimental effect on the health of patients who actually need the antibiotics. To combat this issue, we must find a balance between good antimicrobial stewardship to minimize resistance while also taking underutilization into consideration. We, as pharmacists, are at a unique position between the physician and
Antibiotics-resistant organisms have become one of the most serious threats to public health, infecting over two million people and killing approximately 23,000 people annually.1 According to the CDC, “total inappropriate antibiotic use,” such as prescribing unnecessary antibiotics or giving the wrong dose or duration, makes up to 50% of all outpatient antibiotic use,2,3 and in 2009, the United States spent $10.7 billion on antibiotics, indicating that there is a lot of potential money to save.4
Imagine a time the single common cold can wipe out the entire human race. No medicine can prevent a population from being wiped out and no one is safe from it. This may become a possible reality but only if we respect antibiotics and use them only when they are prescribed when it is necessary it can be stopped. In America we over medicate our children so much that our next generation could become immune to antibiotics.
The use of the healthcare system as a whole is largely determined by the cost incurred by the patient, as well as insurance companies within the healthcare system. As for combating the growth of antibiotic resistance, it might be beneficial to increase the cost of antibiotics so that they are used only when clinically appropriate. This, however, would lead to a decrease in access to patients who might actually need these forms of treatment and who are unable to afford them. Additionally, increasing the cost of treatment options may cause there to be a delay or abandonment of therapy. While neither of these options may be ideal to patients, and even the healthcare system as a whole, the consideration of their use may aid in lowering the prevalence of antibiotic resistance.
Dr. Martin Blaser, author of Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues, paints antibiotics as a negative force in the world that causes disease. Dr. Blaser has studied the role of bacteria in human disease for more than thirty years at Vanderbilt University, and has experience as the director of the Human Microbiome Project at New York University. He also works with the National Institute of Health on infectious diseases. Meanwhile, Dr. David Shlaes, author of Antibiotics: The Perfect Storm, focuses on the drugs’ ability to cure disease. Dr. Shlaes has worked for 30 years in anti-infective academia, industry, and consulting. He served as Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University for five years, and then moved to industry, where he became vice president of Infectious Diseases at Wyeth Research. Later, he took a position as executive vice president of research and development at Idenix Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and formed his own consulting company. He now works predominantly with biotech companies and venture capital firms in their evaluation of anti-infective companies. While they take different approaches, the two doctors concur that antibiotic resistance is a major problem and that society needs to find ways to slow it down. One way to slow down the spread of resistant bacteria is finding ways to ensure
Overtime, antibiotics have been favorable as well as negligent to society. Antibiotic usage is helpful to society because it kills and fights off bacteria in both humans and animals. With an increase in antibiotic usage, these bacteria have become resistant to certain drugs which reduce the chance of the bacteria being killed off and result in bacteria multiplying, causing increased harm to the infected. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2013), each year in the United States at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a result to these infections. Although multiple bacteria are antibiotic resistant, and those numbers will continue to rise, antibiotics should remain a staple in the treatment of diseases, as opposed to abandoning their use which will cause an increase in the prevalence of bacterial infections.
Antibiotics have been taking over the United States. Antibiotics have become resistant. Americans can no longer not focus on this topic. It has taken over. The medical community has made the public aware of the causes and possible solutions of this health emergency, and its devastating impact..
AMR is one of our most serious health threats. Infections from resistant bacteria are now too common and some pathogens have even become more resistant to multiple types/ classes of antibiotics. The loss of effective antibiotics will undermine our ability to fight infectious diseases and manage the infection complications
Dr. H. Scott Hurd author of, “The Other Side of Antimicrobial Resistance” is writing to contradict thought that antibiotic-resistance is becoming a complete global threat. (2012) the article gives several counter claims that lead you in a different mindset than simply healthcare precautions. The author talks about foodborne illness being linked to antibiotics resistance in modern medicine, also about the important knowledge that can be taken away from antibiotics when researching HIV/AIDS, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and hospital-acquired infections through research and development. The author is showing the readers that there is another side, such as, not needing to be concerned about resistance to any antibiotics because scientist and others have an understanding of certain guidelines when it comes to the patients’ health. Therefore, each excuse people are giving to support the claim antibiotic-resistance is a threat to people. He states in his writing, “As soon as an antibiotic is first used, resistance begins to develop.” He is wanting to imply in his message that even though over-prescribing is a big factor, even as simple as the first time an antibiotic is prescribed it is having effects on the patient. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, in “Antibiotics: Misuse puts you and others at risk” infers the overuse or misuse of antibacterial drugs can make resistance develop even faster, causing an epidemic before scientist can find a solution.
Antibiotics are used by millions of people every day, myself included. Their uses include a wide variety of circumstances like treating common colds or battling infections during surgeries. The versatility of the antibiotic also happens to be its greatest downfall. The overuse and misuse of these medications, as well as a lack of new drug development by the pharmaceutical industry contributes to the rapid growth of antibiotic resistance. The emergence of resistant bacteria occurring worldwide, endangers the efficacy of antibiotics. While the effects of these resistant bacteria may seem small, in 25 to 50 years the outcome could result in a “post-antibiotic era.” Moreover, many farmers and agriculturists advocate for the use of antibiotics
Antibiotic Resistance occurs when bacteria reformat themselves in order to become unaffected by the drugs or substances created to terminate them. They gain resistance to the drugs which causes the drugs to be ineffective of use and leading to more harm. Antibiotic Resistance commonly occurs within patients due to physicians misusing or overusing antibiotics. This creates a common resistance to patients and resulting in the constant creation for new antibiotics that would treat the bacteria. The main conflict generally evolves from medical stewardship where physicians have the responsibility to optimally heal their patients to their best efforts. However this is being neglected by misuse of antibiotics due to several reasons, including patients’ ignorance and fear of malpractice. The authors in the articles “Just give me the script: the scourge of antibiotic misuse and the threat to us all” written by Ranjana Srivastava, “Health-ignorant patients one of many problems exacerbating antibiotic resistance” written by C.L. Doherty, and “Ignorance about antibiotics propelling global ‘superbug’ crisis” written by Helen Branswell, all emphasizes on the topic by developing Ethos, Logos and Pathos towards Antibiotic Resistance.
The overuse of antibiotics has been a problem for well over a decade. This misuse leads to many nonvisible problems arising within the human population. As the use of antibiotics increases, the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria also increases. When bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic, another antibiotic must be used to try and kill it and the cycle becomes vicious. Michael Martin, Sapna Thottathil, and Thomas Newman stated that antimicrobial resistance is, “an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society” (2409).
Antimicrobial or antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon seen when a certain microorganism (certain types of bacteria) develops a resistance for a drug that is used formerly to kill them. These resistant bacteria are emerging rapidly worldwide, affecting how a certain bacterial infection might be cured, and therefore rising a threat for patients who were treated with antibiotics a long time ago if the same type of infection. Antibiotic resistance occurred due to the overuse and misuse of a certain medication. (Ventola, C. L. (2015)). Antibiotic resistance conveys incurability for treatable illnesses which would cause a great dent in the healthcare system, rendering it useless. As a result of antibiotic resistance, human illnesses, cost, length of treatment, and side effects from using more powerful medications will increase with time if nothing is done to create an awareness for using antibiotics as treatments for various infections. Certain groups of people (infants, seniors, homeless living in an unhygienic conditions) are at higher risk of getting illnesses that would create the need to use antibiotics as treatments than other groups of people (that normally practice full hygiene). In my opinion, antibiotics should only be used in cases where it’s the last option available as a treatment, because the abuse of using antibiotics will only cause more problems later on in finding treatments for infections and other illnesses where bacteria is the cause of disease. Also, there