A Bacteria's Ability Essay

Submitted By zaklaird
Words: 1627
Pages: 7

What is bacterial resistance? Well bacterial resistance is a bacteria’s ability to survive in the presence of a chemical agent, such as antibiotics or antimicrobials. I want to discuss how bacteria get there resistances, what the causes are, and how this will affect people. There are all types of different microorganisms that have some sort of resistance to antibiotics but how did they come to be resistant? This is one of the main questions that I want to answer. Are we responsible for the resistance of most bacteria? Yes we are, there are many ways that we are responsible for the added resistance of most bacteria in today’s world. When we talk about resistance most people don’t think about livestock or pets. However livestock is one of the leading causes for bacteria to develop resistance to drugs. It is a well-known fact that using measured doses of penicillin and tetracycline helps to improve the growth of livestock. Farmers give livestock large doses of penicillin to help with growth along with fight infections. Pet food also plays a role in the development of resistance to antibiotics (CDC). Today for example the food we give our dogs has antibiotics added to it. In a study that was conducted 70% of the feces collected from dogs contained strains of resistant E.coli (herbs2000). So continuous dosages of antibiotics in livestock and animal food has added to the resistance of bacteria and lead bacteria to evolve due to continuous exposure to antibiotics. So taking this into consideration we need to outlaw the use of antibiotics in the food of dogs; antibiotic resistance is becoming a major epidemic and is something that is getting worse and worse each day. When talking about how we are responsible for bacterial resistance we need to look at doctors and patients themselves. We as patients demand drugs for every little thing we get a little cough and we immediately go to the doctor to get a prescription. However our doctors just give in to our demands and write prescriptions for everything. With doctors prescribing drugs all the time and our miss use of them. This leads bacteria to be over exposed to antibiotics and develop resistance. Continuous exposure to antibiotics allows bacteria to become familiar with them, causing them to become resistant. It is also our fault we are prescribed antibiotics all the time. We take antibiotics to get better however when we start to feel better we stop taking the antibiotics. We don’t take them for the time the doctor says or until they are all gone. The antibiotic kills a percentage of the bacteria but those that it doesn’t kill develop a resistance over time to that particular antibiotic. So when we get sick again that particular antibiotic is less affective and the next time even less affective and so on, until it has developed a complete immunity to that particular antibiotic. Therefore doctors need to watch how much they prescribe antibiotics and patients taking antibiotics need to make sure that they take all of them and not just till they “feel better”. If we take these precautions we can cut down on the amount of bacterial resistance. Along with doctors and patients abuse of prescriptions our government is also at fault. Our government ships excess drugs to different countries. Yes, in some cases this is a great thing when used in moderation. However like the example you used in class about the lady traveling to Tijuana to get prescription drugs this is not ok. Maybe she was going down there to get them because she couldn’t afford them here but that’s not what I’m focusing on. I’m focusing on the fact that in underdeveloped countries you can walk up and get prescription antibiotics over the counter. This leads to self-medication, which is not good when dealing with all bacteria. The average person does not have the medical knowledge to know what antibiotics to take for what ailments. The average person also doesn’t know what dosages to take or how long to take them.