Antibiotic resistant bacteria

From RationalWiki

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are bacteria that have developed, through the process of random mutation and natural selection, resistance to antibiotics normally used to control them.

[edit] Causes

Human ignorance plays a large role in increasing the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Contributing factors include:

• Not taking antibiotics for the prescribed amount of time.
• Taking antibiotics when one is not suffering from a bacterial infection.
• Using antibiotics in the production of animals raised for food

These sorts of antibiotic misuse will kill some of the bacterial population, but leave the bacteria that are more resistant to that antibiotic. These bacteria are then free to multiply and pass along their resistant genes. Future mutations in this population may (and do) eventually produce bacteria that are not affected at all by the original antibiotic. When bacteria have reached a level where they are immune to multiple antibiotics, they are often termed "super-bugs" by the media and much hype is given to them.

[edit] Prevention

Often, the best way to prevent antibiotic resistance is to combine different drugs in a course of treatment. The odds of a bacteria randomly mutating an immunity to one drug is low, but plausible, considering the millions of cells in a single infection and the millions of infections that may occur over time. Using multiple drugs simultaneously would require a single cell, in a single generation, to develop multiple resistances at the same time. The odds of such a thing happening are dramatically lower than the possibility of an individual bacteria developing a single resistance to a single drug.

Bacteria can also be killed by less subtle means than antibiotics. Sterilizing areas with strong poisons such as alcohol, highly damaging substances such as bleach or sterilization with radiation will still work to destroy bacteria on surfaces. Although these methods are not suitable for treatment of an infection, these methods can reduce infections. The reason that bacteria don't develop immunity to these things is similar to why they don't easily develop immunity to combined drug courses; the number of metabolic pathways that must be altered in a single mutated generation is much higher, and the odds of it happening are close to none, even with the vast number of bacteria in play.

[edit] Evolution

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are also one of the saddest, but strongest, examples showing the process of evolution, and why it should be taught properly. Despite the differences between how bacteria and animals evolve, the premise of natural selection is clearly shown to work in this example. Some people however, don't accept this as evidence of evolution as the bacteria remain the same "kind", i.e., they haven't evolved into a horse.