Antibiotic resistance

Phage therapy could prove as an effective alternative to antibiotics. Phage is similar to antibiotics in the sense that it can destroy a bacterial infection but differs in the fact that the bacteria cannot develop resistance. As bacteria attempt to develop resistance to phage the phage counters by also evolving and mutating [5]. Another benefit of phage therapy is that once a phage has been applied to a bacterial…

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that can cause a wide range of diseases in humans. It is a type of staph bacteria that’s immune to most antibiotics. MRSA is unique form of staph because certain antibiotics can’t treat it. MRSA becomes resistant to antibiotics if given enough time. MRSA bacteria is likely to grow when antibiotics are used too much or not properly. History MRSA was first identified in 1961 by British scientists. By the 1970s, MRSA had spread all over…

prescribing unnecessary antibiotics.9-11 Further investigation was done on her by obtaining a urine sample for culture and microscopy. However, it does raise the question if these are needed to be routinely performed for all patients with UTI. Her previous episode of UTI was 8 months ago and she was treated with trimethoprim. SIGN guidelines do not routinely recommend urine microscopy and culture for women with suspected uncomplicated UTI because microbiology and antibiotic treatment approach…

E. faecalis is a gram positive bacterium, which is among the most antibiotic resistant bacteria. Containing many natural antibiotic resistances, it has acquired immunities transferred in r-plasmids among unrestrained bacteria. Since over a quarter of its genome is exogenously attained, this leads to its resistance to the strongest antibiotics or sometimes all antibiotics. This is a large concern in hospital environments and with people with low immune systems since they are more susceptible to…

Antimicrobials, also known as antibiotics, have been used as feed supplements to enhance growth and feed efficiency of food animals (1). These antimicrobials are also used to treat, control or even prevent diseases that are caused by microorganisms such as bacteria (2). This is because they belong this a family of drugs that do not cause significant harm to patients, but they are able to kill or inhibit growth of harmful microorganisms (3). It is believed that antimicrobials pose a hazard to…

Antibiotics are the medicines which are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotics have saved countless lives from common infections in the past a few decades. However, in recent years, the antibiotic resistance has become a global threat to the effective prevention and treatment of an increasing range of infections at an alarming pace (Podolsky et al., 2015). Antibiotic resistance occurs when microbe evolves and become more resistant to antibiotics drug and it can lead to the…

The abuse of Triclosan, a biocide, also helps to contribute to antibiotic resistance in bacteria through cross resistance development. Triclosan is used in practically every consumer product, ranging from hand soap to plastics and even clothing. Triclosan is incorporated into a variety of products due to its high boiling point of 280 Celsius (Giuliano and Rybak 328). Triclosan is currently classified as an over the counter medication by the Federal Drug and Alcohol administration. This allows…

Antibiotic Resistance: A Battle to be Fought or a Lost Cause? One of the most controversial issues in the modern scientific world is whether or not antibiotic use, specifically in humans, should be more heavily regulated. It is a question which people have begun asking more and more in recent years as the understanding of antimicrobial resistance continues to unravel itself. Antibiotics are a class of medicine that fight off infections by targeting microorganisms, and they have contributed…

immune system, it is common to be prescribed a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics are designed to assist the body with fighting off invading bacteria and rid the body of the infection. However, with the increasing use of antibiotics, certain types of bacteria are becoming resistant to the medication as prescriptions become more widespread, making the drugs less effective. This selective pressure encourages the bacteria to develop a resistance to the old medication, and may even develop into a…

transduction of chloramphenicol resistance from a resistant S. typhimurium LT2 strain to a sensitive strain of S. typhimurium. It is believed that P22 phages package 44 kb of chromosomal DNA at random with a 2% frequency and a 2% chance of homologous recombination events occurring (MIC302 lab manual). S. typhimurium has a chromosome length of approximately 4,857 kb, so it was calculated that 0.00036% is the percent chance that the gene for chloramphenicol resistance will be transduced into the…