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SUPERBUGS

Superbugs can be called as antibiotic resistance. It is a type of resistance or drug resistance


where an antibiotic fails to work on the
bacterias and they survive. These bacterias are
transferrable in horizontal directions by
conjugation or transformation. These bugs are
impossible to treat in some cases, since they
have antibiotic resistance to everything.

Many antibiotic resistance genes reside on transmissible plasmids, facilitating their transfer.
Exposure to an antibiotic naturally selects for the survival of the organisms with the genes for
resistance. In this way, a gene for antibiotic resistance may readily spread through an
ecosystem of bacteria. Antibiotic-resistance plasmids frequently contain genes conferring
resistance to several different antibiotics. Genes for resistance to antibiotics, like the
antibiotics themselves, are ancient. However, the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant
bacterial infections seen in clinical practice stems from antibiotic use both within human
medicine and veterinary medicine. Any use of antibiotics can increase selective pressure in a
population of bacteria to allow the resistant bacteria to thrive and the susceptible bacteria to
die off. As resistance towards antibiotics becomes more common, a greater need for
alternative treatments arises.
TYPE OF SUPERBUGS

1) Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is basically an


infection that has evolved and become resistant to antibiotics
such as penicillin, methicillin and flucloxacillin.
Staphylococcus aureus lives quite naturally on the skin or in
the noses of healthy people but if it gets under the skin
through cuts or wounds or into the lungs it can cause an
infection and lead to serious problems. If the bacteria are present on the skin, MRSA can be
passed around by physical contact. Infection can cause redness, swelling and tederness
although some people carry MRSA without displaying any signs or symptoms.

2 ) Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE)

Enterococci are enteric bacteria found in the digestive and urinary


tracts of humans. Enterococci are thus normally present in humans,
but do not cause disease. Infection, however, arises if these superbugs
invade other body sites, such as open wounds or skin ulcers, and they
can cause serious complications if they get into the blood.

3) Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is considered by some to be the ultimate


superbug, in part because of its ability to exploit opportunity --
when opportunity knocks, its probably P. aeruginosa.

This superbug is widespread in nature, being found in soil, water,


plants, and animals including humans. This bacterium just loves to
swim; the infamous hot tub rash is often caused by P.
aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa can also be notoriously found in
biofilms, an aggregation of microorganisms surrounded by protective coating that sticks
firmly to many surfaces. Think of it as a micro-orgy. Within a biofilm this superbug can
multiply with relative ease, and once there are enough of them around, they can actually
signal each other to simultaneously attack and release toxins.

MECHANISM

Antibiotic resistance can be a result of horizontal gene transfer, and also of unlinked point
mutations in the pathogen genome at a rate of about 1 in 108 per chromosomal replication.
The antibiotic action against the pathogen can be seen as an environmental pressure. Those
bacteria with a mutation that allows them to survive live to reproduce. They then pass this
trait to their offspring, which leads to the evolution of a fully resistant colony.

The four main mechanisms by which microorganisms exhibit resistance to antimicrobials are:

1. Drug inactivation or modification: for example, enzymatic deactivation of penicillin


G in some penicillin-resistant bacteria through the production of -lactamases
2. Alteration of target site: for example, alteration of PBPthe binding target site of
penicillinsin MRSA and other penicillin-resistant bacteria

3. Alteration of metabolic pathway: for example, some sulfonamide-resistant bacteria do


not require para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), an important precursor for the synthesis
of folic acid and nucleic acids in bacteria inhibited by sulfonamides, instead, like
mammalian cells, they turn to using preformed folic acid.

4. Reduced drug accumulation: by decreasing drug permeability and/or increasing active


efflux (pumping out) of the drugs across the cell surface

.
EFFECT OF SUPERBUGS

In most of the cases superbugs causes painful skin


boils and abscesses, and can lead to potentially fatal
blood infections and heart damage which lead to
death. The bug is spread through casual contact,
although its not as easily acquired as highly infection
conditions like the common cold or influenza.

PREVENTION

Rational use of antibiotics may reduce the chances of development of opportunistic infection
by antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to dysbacteriosis.

Vaccines do not have the problem of resistance because a vaccine enhances the body's natural
defences, while an antibiotic operates separately from the body's normal defences.
Nevertheless, new strains may evolve that escape immunity induced by vaccines; for example
an updated influenza vaccine is needed each year.

One alternative is to prevent diseases by adding cytokines instead of antibiotics to animal


feed. These proteins are made in the animal body "naturally" after a disease and are not
antibiotics, so they do not contribute to the antibiotic resistance problem. Furthermore,
studies on using cytokines have shown they also enhance the growth of animals like the
antibiotics now used, but without the drawbacks of nontherapeutic antibiotic use. Cytokines
have the potential to achieve the animal growth rates traditionally sought by the use of
antibiotics without the contribution of antibiotic resistance associated with the widespread
nontherapeutic uses of antibiotics currently used in the food animal production industries.
SUMMARY

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