ASSIGNMENT # 3: ANTIMICROBIAL ACTION AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
1. Antimicrobial resistance is MAINTAINED in the environment by Selective Pressure. Discuss 3 types of selective pressure and how each could be avoided.
One type of selective pressure is the use of antibiotics to treat viral infections. This could be avoided by educating the public that antibiotics do nothing for a viral infection. Doctors should also stop giving into patient’s demand for antibiotics for a viral infection. Another type of selective pressure is not completing a full prescription. If a patient stops taking an antibiotic before they should, all of the disease causing bacteria may not be dead yet. This greatly increases the chance of recurrence and a greater chance …show more content…
If nothing else works (i.e the bacteria is resistant to everything else) then doctors will use vancomycin. However, since enterococci are becoming resistant to it, we can’t use it to treat VRE. Since no other antibiotic works, there is no way to treat VRE. To add to the problem enterococci rarely causes infection. The only exception is in debilitated patients. Since they are already quite sick, this is often a fatal combination. Finally, avoparcin (a drug very similar to vancomycin) is extensively used in animal feed. This will greatly increase the incidence of VRE.
4. Name one antibiotic that is commonly used in outpatients. Describe the mechanism of action of that drug.
One antibiotic that is commonly used in outpatients is penicillin. The mechanism of action for penicillin is binds to the transpeptidase enzyme complex. The transpeptidase enzyme complex is used to crosslink peptidoglycan. When the beta- lactam is bound to the transpeptidase enzyme complex the crosslinks on the outer membrane can’t form. This makes the bacteria much more susceptible to environmental conditions and can be lethal to the bacteria. The lack of an outer membrane is lethal to the bacteria.
5. Which antibiotic target do you believe is the best and …show more content…
However, it is also the most common cause of skin infections. These infections are often found when the body’s nonspecific host defenses are disrupted (i.e., surgical wounds, blood stream infections and abscess). Before the 1950’s these infections were treated with penicillin. However, S. aureus quickly became resistant to penicillin, as it was frequently used. As penicillin clearly was no longer going to work, methicillin was introduced as an alternative. Soon though, methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) appeared around 1980. Today about 20% of staph infections are MRSA. The treatment for this is vancomycin, which is viewed as a last resort drug. However, in 1997 the beginnings of vancomycin resistant S. aureus became known. In 2002 VRSA appeared. VRSA is still quite rare, but it has the potential to become a big problem. Most of the time the above mentioned problem occurs in hospitals, especially VRSA as vancomycin is an I.V. drug. However, community acquired – MRSA (CA-MRSA) is becoming a problem as well. This is a new strain of S. aureus and it occurs in otherwise healthy individuals. This multiplies antibiotic resistance and is more likely to cause invasive infections. It can also be found in companion animals (dogs and cats) and prolong household transmission. The way to control CA-MRSA is by washing things that are infected (sheets, clothes etc. ) in strong detergents and extremely hot
1. Antimicrobial resistance is MAINTAINED in the environment by Selective Pressure. Discuss 3 types of selective pressure and how each could be avoided.
One type of selective pressure is the use of antibiotics to treat viral infections. This could be avoided by educating the public that antibiotics do nothing for a viral infection. Doctors should also stop giving into patient’s demand for antibiotics for a viral infection. Another type of selective pressure is not completing a full prescription. If a patient stops taking an antibiotic before they should, all of the disease causing bacteria may not be dead yet. This greatly increases the chance of recurrence and a greater chance …show more content…
If nothing else works (i.e the bacteria is resistant to everything else) then doctors will use vancomycin. However, since enterococci are becoming resistant to it, we can’t use it to treat VRE. Since no other antibiotic works, there is no way to treat VRE. To add to the problem enterococci rarely causes infection. The only exception is in debilitated patients. Since they are already quite sick, this is often a fatal combination. Finally, avoparcin (a drug very similar to vancomycin) is extensively used in animal feed. This will greatly increase the incidence of VRE.
4. Name one antibiotic that is commonly used in outpatients. Describe the mechanism of action of that drug.
One antibiotic that is commonly used in outpatients is penicillin. The mechanism of action for penicillin is binds to the transpeptidase enzyme complex. The transpeptidase enzyme complex is used to crosslink peptidoglycan. When the beta- lactam is bound to the transpeptidase enzyme complex the crosslinks on the outer membrane can’t form. This makes the bacteria much more susceptible to environmental conditions and can be lethal to the bacteria. The lack of an outer membrane is lethal to the bacteria.
5. Which antibiotic target do you believe is the best and …show more content…
However, it is also the most common cause of skin infections. These infections are often found when the body’s nonspecific host defenses are disrupted (i.e., surgical wounds, blood stream infections and abscess). Before the 1950’s these infections were treated with penicillin. However, S. aureus quickly became resistant to penicillin, as it was frequently used. As penicillin clearly was no longer going to work, methicillin was introduced as an alternative. Soon though, methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) appeared around 1980. Today about 20% of staph infections are MRSA. The treatment for this is vancomycin, which is viewed as a last resort drug. However, in 1997 the beginnings of vancomycin resistant S. aureus became known. In 2002 VRSA appeared. VRSA is still quite rare, but it has the potential to become a big problem. Most of the time the above mentioned problem occurs in hospitals, especially VRSA as vancomycin is an I.V. drug. However, community acquired – MRSA (CA-MRSA) is becoming a problem as well. This is a new strain of S. aureus and it occurs in otherwise healthy individuals. This multiplies antibiotic resistance and is more likely to cause invasive infections. It can also be found in companion animals (dogs and cats) and prolong household transmission. The way to control CA-MRSA is by washing things that are infected (sheets, clothes etc. ) in strong detergents and extremely hot