Introduction
For a long time, antibiotics were helping, to control and destroy the bacteria which is causing humans’ sickness. However, recently some bacteria become unbeatable by current antibiotics and even using the antibiotics to develop a new drug-resistant bacterium. In this paper, I will outline the contribution of health care providers, patients, and industries to the development of drug-resistant bacteria and discuss the necessary steps to prevent antimicrobial resistance.
The health care professionals’ contribution to development of drug-resistant bacteria
“Antibiotic / Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of microbes to resist the effects of drugs – that is, the germs are not killed, and their growth is not stopped. Resistant …show more content…
First, the healthcare providers often prescribe the antibiotic therapy where it is not necessary or incorrect dosing and duration. According to CDC website up to 50% of antibiotic therapy are not optimally specified, which is contributing and supporting the development of drug resistance (CDC, 2015). Next, antibiotic resistance is a growing health concern; however, patients do not fully understand the danger of the issue and the process. Patients’ contribution to the evolution of drug resistance appears in not completing the full course of prescribed antibiotics, skipping the dose, taking antibiotics prescribed for someone else. Often patients do not realize that they can spread the antibiotic-resistant bacterium to the other people simply by not practicing hand hygiene and appropriate infection control procedures. Lastly, the other major factor is spreading of the resistant strains of bacteria from the non-human sources in the environment. The resistant bacteria are surviving and transmitting from the animals to the human food. “When food animals are slaughtered and processed, these resistant bacteria can contaminate the meat or other animal products” (CDC, 2015). Furthermore, “these bacteria can also get into the environment when an animal poops and may spread to produce that is irrigated with contaminated water” (CDC, …show more content…
There four core measures to fight the resistance, which is preventing the infection and the spread of resistance, tracking of diseases, improving the antibiotic prescribing and developing new drugs (CDC, 2015).
The prevention is the most powerful tool in the antimicrobial resistance fight. The health care facilities and hospital required to practice standard precautions protocol as a basic level of infection control. The precautions should be followed by everyone within the facility and include the proper personal hand hygiene, use the protective equipment, utilize the aseptic techniques and appropriately handle and disposal of waste materials. Health care providers should provide adequate patient teaching on antibiotic therapy. Furthermore, the health care facilities must provide continuous public educational campaigns on prevention of development the drug-resistant infections and transmission process. As an example, “FDA is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work," a campaign that offers Web pages, brochures, fact sheets, and other information sources aimed at helping the public learn about preventing antibiotic-resistant infections” ( FDA,
For a long time, antibiotics were helping, to control and destroy the bacteria which is causing humans’ sickness. However, recently some bacteria become unbeatable by current antibiotics and even using the antibiotics to develop a new drug-resistant bacterium. In this paper, I will outline the contribution of health care providers, patients, and industries to the development of drug-resistant bacteria and discuss the necessary steps to prevent antimicrobial resistance.
The health care professionals’ contribution to development of drug-resistant bacteria
“Antibiotic / Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of microbes to resist the effects of drugs – that is, the germs are not killed, and their growth is not stopped. Resistant …show more content…
First, the healthcare providers often prescribe the antibiotic therapy where it is not necessary or incorrect dosing and duration. According to CDC website up to 50% of antibiotic therapy are not optimally specified, which is contributing and supporting the development of drug resistance (CDC, 2015). Next, antibiotic resistance is a growing health concern; however, patients do not fully understand the danger of the issue and the process. Patients’ contribution to the evolution of drug resistance appears in not completing the full course of prescribed antibiotics, skipping the dose, taking antibiotics prescribed for someone else. Often patients do not realize that they can spread the antibiotic-resistant bacterium to the other people simply by not practicing hand hygiene and appropriate infection control procedures. Lastly, the other major factor is spreading of the resistant strains of bacteria from the non-human sources in the environment. The resistant bacteria are surviving and transmitting from the animals to the human food. “When food animals are slaughtered and processed, these resistant bacteria can contaminate the meat or other animal products” (CDC, 2015). Furthermore, “these bacteria can also get into the environment when an animal poops and may spread to produce that is irrigated with contaminated water” (CDC, …show more content…
There four core measures to fight the resistance, which is preventing the infection and the spread of resistance, tracking of diseases, improving the antibiotic prescribing and developing new drugs (CDC, 2015).
The prevention is the most powerful tool in the antimicrobial resistance fight. The health care facilities and hospital required to practice standard precautions protocol as a basic level of infection control. The precautions should be followed by everyone within the facility and include the proper personal hand hygiene, use the protective equipment, utilize the aseptic techniques and appropriately handle and disposal of waste materials. Health care providers should provide adequate patient teaching on antibiotic therapy. Furthermore, the health care facilities must provide continuous public educational campaigns on prevention of development the drug-resistant infections and transmission process. As an example, “FDA is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work," a campaign that offers Web pages, brochures, fact sheets, and other information sources aimed at helping the public learn about preventing antibiotic-resistant infections” ( FDA,