Antibiotics In The 1940's

The world health organisation has announced antibiotic resistance and the rise of superbugs as a great threat to human race. Superbugs are defined as bacteria equipped bacteria with "bullet proof vests” of antibiotic resistance that deflect "magic silver bullets" of antibiotics. Under right circumstances, they can transfer the antibiotic resistance genes to other bacteria and completely paralyse humans to combat against bacteria (news.com.au 2014). In Australia, thousands of people per year are diagnosed with superbugs and these victims often face a prolonged illness and ultimately death (Pogson 2012). The severity of the problem can become apparent by referring to the death attributable to antibiotic resistance every year from 2014 to 2050,

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

Since superbugs possess an immunity to multiple types of antibiotics, medical costs will go up for families who need special antibiotics only found in hospitals (McArdle 1). Admittances to hospitals will obviously go up because of the need for intravenous antibiotics since those tend to have a stronger potency than a pill form (McArdle 1). Hospitalizations and stronger antibiotic prescriptions are both costly for average families, making this a very pricey problem. Along with cost issues, overall illness and deaths due to once-treatable disease will increase (McArdle 1). There’s already been an increase of over two million people per year becoming ill and twenty-three thousand deaths from said illnesses (Superbug

The increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is a growing problem that affects individuals on a global status. Antibiotic resistance refers to the ability of bacteria to alter their genetic material and mutate to avoid destruction by antibiotic medications rendering the drugs ineffective in fighting infection and disease. This resistance has had tragic effects as numerous of the resistant infections have resulted in death of the host. Because of the severity of this condition, organizations and institutions across the globe have been working together to study and examine the best strategies to combat these resistant bacteria or sometimes referred to as “superbugs”. Many innovations have been proposed and implemented in attempts to rid people of their infections. The discussion of which approaches are the most effective and cost efficient has been taking place for decades and is still occurring today along with further investigations of alternatives to antibiotics altogether. Researchers are also attempting to understand what has caused the problem of antibiotic resistance and how this problem has developed. Efforts to contest these bacteria are extremely important and it is now up to the next generation of health care providers, researchers, and educators to implement the best ways to keep people healthy.

Every single day, billions of different microorganisms enter through the doors of hospitals around the globe. A large majority of these infectious agents are treated through the use of antibiotics. But, what happens to the microorganisms that become resistant to the destructive effects of antibiotics? These organisms live on and continue to resist antibiotic treatment. We call these antibiotic-resistant organisms superbugs. Hospitals have become a breeding ground for superbugs. If they are not controlled, these superbugs can pose a significant threat to a hospital’s patients. Since they are impervious to standard antibiotic treatments, options are scarce and these superbugs prey on the already ill patients in the hospital.

Although an infection may be rare or eradicated, specialists know how to care for them if an outbreak was to emerge. Additionally, the more the population and travel increase, the easier it is for infections to spread not only from person to person but from country to country (“What Is an Infectious Disease Specialist”). With the world population growing at great rates each year, it is vital for counties to prepare for the possible spread of a superbug at an exponential rate. To adequately prepare, there needs to be a great number of epidemiologists to devise action plans for the country and Infectious Disease Physicians to treat and isolate those who do become

In their research article, White House Crafts First-Ever Plan to Fight Superbugs, Abutaleb and Baertlein indicate a large-scale plan of action to reduce the spread of deadly Superbugs. Dark Clouds for Drug Development, author John Blau reports that in recent years, pharmaceutical companies have pulled back on research for Superbug-fighting drugs as funding for new drug development has taken cuts. These articles go hand-in-hand with one another as they demonstrate that the effects of the new plan spurred from the White House to stimulate research in antibiotic resistant “Superbugs.” The quote, “The goals include drastically reducing the rates of the most deadly “superbug” infections within 5 years, investing in new diagnostic tools and antibiotic drugs, improving antibiotic use…” demonstrates the new plan’s motives. The latter source indicates, “Analysts identify several reasons, beyond the reduction in federal funding, for the decline. The cost of introducing a new drug and successfully taking it to market has increased

Antibiotics have been a very important means for someone to feel better. Since the discovery of Penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have saved many countless lives that otherwise wouldn’t be saved. The real threat in the world today is the rapid spreading of antibiotic resistant diseases. To address this worldwide problem the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria was developed and issued by President Barack Obama on September 18, 2014. This plan lists five goals to slow the progression of resistant bacteria. These goals work as a guide actions of the U.S government and public health agencies around the world to address this big concern to the world’s safety.

According to Hoffman and Outterson, the most deadly aspect to antibiotic resistance or ABR is when a patient at a hospital developing a strain of a disease that is completely untreatable and lethal (6). In response to the overabundance of antibiotic use, many scientists believe that having a stricter infection management system will help control the overuse of antibiotics. The main reasoning for stricter control is to help prevent bacteria from having the chance to evolve in the the first place. Hoffman and Outterson believe that the best approach to finding a solution is to have a collaboration of people from a variety of academic and professional jobs (6). With this collaboration of people, Hoffman and Outterson, devised a three step approach to conquering ABR; this approach is Access, Conservation, and Innovation (6). The absence of access is a common cause of death by resistant bacteria; scientists need to be given access to existing antibiotics so that they can devise possible solutions to ABR (6). Conservation will neither prevent ABR nor cure it, but it will help slow down the spread of it; the third and final step is innovation (Hoffman and Outterson 6). Innovation as stated by Hoffman and Outterson is the creation of new drugs and others ideas to fight off the evolved bacteria (6). Hopefully with these new ideas, the world will work together to solve this crisis. If we do not find a solution, I fear for our

The chances of successful treatment have been put at risk because of the resistant organisms and this has a knock-on effect on the cost of care for individual patients and the healthcare industry and governments. There is potential as well of resistant antibiotic being spread across the board that could be endemic clinically.

Beginning in the 1940’s, antimicrobial agents were first implemented as a means of treating bacterial infections in humans (1). By the 1950’s, the usage of these agents had spread to veterinary medicine where they were being used for companion animals as well as animals raised for food (9). It is thought that upwards of 60% of antibiotics in the United States are used to promote growth and prevent disease within livestock. Though antibiotics have profoundly changed the landscape of human medicine, a rapid overuse and abuse has created reservoirs of resistant bacteria (2). A population of organism’s ability to adapt to a changing environment is a natural occurrence, however, antibiotics are expediting this process and potentially creating pathogenic organisms for which there are no effective treatments. In recent years, emergence of resistant bacteria is occurring at a significantly higher rate than the rate of new drugs being discovered (8).

(3, 4, 6) The United States reports two million people infected with an antimicrobial resistant bacteria and out of two million individuals, 23,000 of those people die each year. (7) Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a reported nosocomial, antimicrobial resistant bacteria that infects 250,000 individuals each year. (7, 8) Out of the 250,000 individuals infected with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), there is a recorded 14,000 deaths. (7, 8) Bacterial resistance is an emerging and ongoing public health threat that causes significantly higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared to antimicrobial-susceptible bacteria. (3, 4, 6) A key factor contributing to the rise in antimicrobial resistant bacteria is the significance of person-to-person or indirect contact, which coherently passes resistant strains of bacteria. (8) The effectiveness and informal access of antibiotics in the 20th century has led to overuse and the emergence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. (3)

Bacteria have been plaguing mankind throughout all of recorded history, from the medieval bubonic plague to the leprosy epidemic, but our greatest bacterial nightmare is knocking on the door of the 21st century. Antibiotic resistance. Our improper and ubiquitous use of antibiotics has caused bacteria to develop resistance against our synthetic poison, enabling bacteria to survive, thrive, and reek havoc amongst humans and animals alike. The improper use of antibiotics foreshadows a future of super bacteria that will be incurable by any medicine that has been developed, or will ever be develop. It will be a future full of fear and death. The improper usage of antibiotics must be identified and addressed before it is too late.

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).

Antibiotics are an expansive class of antimicrobial drugs, also referred to as antibacterial agents, which are mainly used to overcome bacterial infections by either eliminating or inhibiting the growth of these infectious agents (Demain and Fang, 2000). Antibiotics, alongside vaccination, played a key role in revolutionizing medicine during the 20th century, as well as coming close to eradicating diseases such as tuberculosis (Berdy, 2005). Moreover, these antimicrobial drugs are majorly the reason behind extending the average life expectancy, where in the United States a dramatic increase from 47 years in 1900–1974 to 80 years in the year 2000 was concluded (Lederberg, 2000).