In recent decades, it has become apparent that microbes can develop resistance to the very medications that are designed to treat them. Antibiotics were hailed as the greatest invention when they first appeared in the 20th Century. As a result of their use, many bacterial infections no longer resulted in increased mortality and morbidity for individuals. Up until their development, many individuals died from bacterial infections annually. However, physicians overused this vital tool; they failed to understand that life will naturally find a way to continue to exist. In addition, patients often demanded antibiotics for relatively minor illnesses or for illnesses that are actually viral in nature. A “sore throat” is a classic example of this. While antibiotic are necessary to treat a throat infection caused by strep, they will not prove any assistance in the usual throat infection. Another critical problem resulted from individuals not taking antibiotics as required. Often, individuals stopped taking the antibiotics as soon as they began to feel better; however, the medication was prescribed for a week or longer. As a result, many microbes were not completely killed. Antibiotic resistance develops because of these situations. When the weaker bacteria are killed off, the stronger bacteria manage to survive. In addition, when only a small dose of the medication is given to bacteria, natural selection allows mutated copies to develop resistance to the medication. This is a natural concept of evolution; however, scientists failed to realize it would also occur with the various strains of bacteria (Science Daily, n.d.).
Public health officials need to work to reduce the development of resistant strains of antibiotics. The most important thing public health officials can do is encourage individuals to wash their hands frequently and properly. Hand washing does not discriminate against different strains of bacteria or the strength of bacteria. In this way, it is an effective way to reduce illness without risking any further development of antibiotic resistance. It sounds simple; this is because it is. However, individuals should not use antibacterial soaps. These antibacterial soaps also work to produce strains of resistant bacteria. Only the stronger bacteria survive the exposure. This allow stronger bacteria to multiple. Actually, hand washing with non-antibacterial soap has been shown to be quite effective. In a recent study about the effectiveness of bacterial removal, this was seen. Specifically, the bacteria in question was from fecal contamination in individuals with diarrhea. Diarrheal disease remains one of the leading public health concerns globally; it is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. When an individual did not wash his or her hands, the bacteria was found on 44% of hands. However, if the individual utilized water for hand washing, it reduced the contamination to 23%. However, when soap and water were used, the rate of contamination dropped to 8%. The soap was not antibacterial in nature. This clearly indicates the normal soap and water provide an effective means to reduce the bacterial contamination on hands (Burton, Cobb, Donachie, Judah, et al, 2011, p. 98).
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New strains of resistant bacteria continue to evolve. This clearly indicates that medicine and public health are not doing an effective job at preventing this. A recent study indicated that a new method of antibiotic resistance has been documented in India and Pakistan. A reason for this development is widespread non-prescription use of antibiotics in the region. “Enterobacteriaceae with NDM-1 carbapenemases are highly resistant to many antibiotic classes and potentially herald the end of treatment with β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides—the main antibiotic classes for the treatment of Gram-negative infections” (Kumarasamy, Toleman, Walsh, Bagaria, et al, 2010, p. 600). Researchers have discovered there is a significant plasticity in these bacteria. Plasticity refers to the ability of the species to undergo genetic changes. In addition, they isolated similar strains of this bacteria in England. This is from patients who travelled to the Indian subcontinent for elective plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures. As a result, they believe this new strain can possibly reach epidemic levels. This is of significant concern for public health.
- Burton, M., Cobb, E., Donachie, P., Judah, G., Curtis, V., & Schmidt, W. P. (2011). The effect of handwashing with water or soap on bacterial contamination of hands. International journal of environmental research and public health, 8(1), 97-104.
- Kumarasamy, K. K., Toleman, M. A., Walsh, T. R., Bagaria, J., Butt, F., Balakrishnan, R., … & Woodford, N. (2010). Emergence of a new antibiotic resistance mechanism in India, Pakistan, and the UK: a molecular, biological, and epidemiological study. The Lancet infectious diseases, 10(9), 597-602.
- Science Daily. (n.d.). Antibiotic resistance. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/a/antibiotic_resistance.htm>
