Antibiotic Resistance 1

Running head: ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Antibiotic Resistance

Kali L .Lockhart

Glen Allen High School

Introduction
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What some people call a ticking time bomb, the World Health Organization says

antibiotic resistance is the biggest threat to global health (Brown, 2018). Antibiotic resistance

infects at least 2 million people and kills around 23,000 people each year. That number will

continue to grow if we don’t do anything. It is predicted by the year 2050, 10 million people

infected will die each year (Brown, 2018). As the World Health Organization put it best,

Serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in
every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any
country. Antibiotic resistance–when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work
in people who need them to treat infections–is now a major threat to public health.
This brings up the question; Should the United States limit antibiotic usage?

Evolution of Antibiotics
The first recorded resistance to antibiotics were in the 1930s just a few years after

Penicillin was introduced to society by Alexander Fleming in 1928. The term antibiotic was

proposed by Selman Waksman to mean the “activity of a chemical compound,” (Davies &

Davies, 2010). This leads antibiotics to be a generic term to generally mean anything that inhibits

bacterial infections. However, they cannot treat viral infections like the common cold (Bell,

2009). Since then various types of antibiotics have developed globally to not only treat humans

but animals and better typical merchandise. Not even 100 years after the invention of antibiotics,

society has begun to put antibacterial agents into most everyday products like cleansers, soaps,

toothbrushes, dishwashing detergents, hand lotion, window cleaner, chopsticks, plastic food

storage, pillows, sheets, towels, slipper, etc, (Levy, 2001). Since “Germs have become the

buzzword for a danger people want to eliminate,” from 1990 to 2010 the number of household

products with antibacterial agents escalated from a few to over 700 new products (Levy, 2001).

Several studies agree that the rise in antibiotics could be attributed to doctors feeling pressured to

prescribe unneeded antibiotics (Jennifer Brown, 2018; Edward Bell, 2009). Through the National

Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
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conducted from 1995-2003 researchers found that doctors prescribed antibiotics to 53% of their

patients that they saw on annual visits for a sore throat which was (7.3 million patients) that

means that 3.8 million patients were prescribed antibiotics. This is 38% higher than the average

expected rate of antibiotic prescriptions (Bell, 2009). Corroborating this, a different source stated

that “nearly half of all antibiotics prescribed may be inappropriate," (“The latest reason why,”

2017). This is ultimately faulty due the increased adverse effects to taking antibiotics like

allergies and resistance. The decision to prescribe antibiotics has become much more “complex,

including diagnostic accuracy, parental pressure and desire, perceived need, time available per

patient, among many other factors,” (Bell, 2009).

Antibiotic Usage
People use antibiotics in animals because it allows the livestock to gain weight quicker

than naturally and protect them from illness (Mckenna, 2017). It has been hard to put regulation

on antibiotics since “growth promotion and disease prevention created modern industrial

farming” (Mckenna, 2017). This is the basis of the farming industry today, which allows the U.S

to keep its low prices. The pharmaceutical companies sold the U.S 34.3 million pounds of

antibiotics for its livestock. Just a few years earlier it was 7.7 million, this shows the drastic

increase the U.S has consumed in antibiotics (Mckenna, 2017).

Alison Moodie confirms that there has been an overuse of antibiotics given to livestock to

prevent infection and have the animals gain weight and agrees that there are detrimental effects

(2017). Due to the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock and humans a “superbug” has been

created where bacteria has grown resistant to antibiotics (Moodie, 2017). One in five resistant

infections are caused by germs in food from animals showing a high correlation between

antibiotics given to animals and infections (Moodie, 2017). Since this research and information
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has come to light, stores like Panera and Chipotle have vowed to implement new practices and

safety for their products, while Sonic and Burger King has fallen behind (Moodie, 2017).

How Antibiotic Resistance Works

There are two main ways that bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics. The first is

through genetic mutation. There are a variety of mutations that can cause different things.

Mutations can cause the bacteria to produce enzymes that inactivate the antibiotics, while others

“eliminate the cell target that the antibiotic attacks,” other kinds will close their ports off to block

the antibiotic from allowing it in the cell and others will make pumping mechanisms to export

the antibiotic back outside so it never reaches the “target”(“General Background”). The Genetic

Science Learning Center verifies this information and calls it “acquired resistance” when bacteria

changes and protects it self from the antibiotic (“Antibiotic Resistance”). The source then divides

acquired resistance into genetic change and getting DNA from a bacterium that is already

resistant which is the second way that that bacteria can acquire resistance (“Antibiotic

Resistance”). By mating also known as “conjugation” the bacteria transfer genetic material that

include genes that have resistance to antibiotics (“General Background”). Another way for

passing resistance between bacteria is through the head of a virus (“General Background”). An

interesting characteristic of resistance was even though antibiotic resistant traits are passed

through DNA it eventually can be lost the same way (“General Background”). Although, the

Genetic Science Learning Center divides bacteria that survive antibiotic treatment and multiply

into a new category the two sources essentially confirm that antibiotic resistance is mainly

passed on or genetically mutated (“Antibiotic Resistance”).

Solutions to the Epidemic

At the University of Melbourne, a team of researchers in the School of Chemical and

Biomedical Engineering found that nanoparticles may offer a small solution to antibiotic
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resistance (Brown, 2018). By disrupting and attacking the cell membrane of the bacteria, the

nanoparticles would be able to offer a small solution to the epidemic (Brown, 2018). While this

solution is not corroborated by many it does offer hope in expansion of solutions. Meanwhile,

the World Health Organization has launched the Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System

(GLASS) to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria that has spread to 22 countries and infected

500,000 people. The director of GLASS, Dr. Marc Sprenger shared that “Some of the world’s

most common – and potentially most dangerous – infections are proving drug-resistant, [and

they] don’t respect borders,”(“High levels of antibiotic,” 2018). This has been proven by WHO’s

research tracking antibiotic research by region. Even though each region has their own specific

resistant strains they all commonly share high resistance to Staphylococcus aureus infection are

resistant to MRSA, therefore the standard antibiotics don’t work (“WHO’s first global report,”

2014).

Currently the FDA is fighting against antibiotic resistance by partnering with the CDC on

“Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work” to educate the public on preventing antibiotic

resistant infections. They are also encouraging the development of new antibiotics by looking at

clinical studies that evaluate how antibacterial drugs work and implementing new labeling

regulations on antibiotics to instruct patients on proper use (“Combating Antibiotic Resistance”).

A chemist also found that Bacteriophages, the naturally occurring virus, could be used as a

possible solution in the future if research advances since they attack bacteria (Moskvitch, 2015).

A multitude of other sources have instructed people to take antibiotics as prescribed,

complete the prescription, and never share antibiotics (Brown, 2018). Other sources present

preventive measures for pharmacists to only prescribe antibiotics when truly needed and

pharmacists to regulate appropriate use of medicine and foster research for new development
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(“WHO’s first global, 2014”). However, like Matthew Wellington said, preventive steps are

“half-measures for a problem that requires a full-scale solution,”(Mckenna, 2017).

Conclusion
Overall, antibiotics has greatly impacted society; for better or for worse. After doing this

research it can be concluded that the United States should limit antibiotic usage. Although

antibiotics have saved many lives and cured deadly infections, the overuse and increase

antibiotics have become impediments rather than benefits.

References

(2014, April 30). WHO’s first global report on antibiotic resistance reveals serious, worldwide

threat to public health. World Health Organization. Retrieved from

http://www.who.int/mediac entre/news/releases/2014/amr-report/en/

Antibiotic Resistance. Genetic Science Learning Center. Retrieved from http://learn.genetics.

utah.edu/content/microbiome/resistance/

Bell, A. Edward. (2009, February). Another reason to limit antibiotic use? Healio. Retrieved

from https://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/news/print/infectious-disease -

news/%7B3217ab08-8b28-4205-9788-72aceb2bff00%7D/another-reason-to-limit-

antibiotic-use

Brown, R. (2018, February 21). Nanoparticles offer hope in the fight against antibiotic resistant

bacteria. Create. Retrieved from https://www.createdigital.org.au/nanoparticles-fight-

antibiotic-resistant-bacteria/

Combating Antibiotic Resistance. U.S Food & Drug Administration. Retrieved from

https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm092810.htm

Davies, J., & Davies, D. (2010). Origins and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance. Microbiology
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and Molecular Biology Reviews ,74, 417-433. doi:10.1128/MMBR.00016-10

General Background: About Antibiotic Resistance. Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics.

Retrieved form http://emerald.tufts.edu/med/apua/about_issue/about_antibioticres.shtml

Levy, S. B. (2001). Antibacterial Household Products: Cause for Concern. Emerging Infectious

Diseases, 7(7), 512-515. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0707.017705.

Mckenna, Maryn. (2017, January 13). After Years of Debate, The FDA Finally Curtails

Antibiotic Use In Livestock. Newsweek. Retrieved from

http://www.newsweek.com/after-years-debate-fda-curtails-antibiotic-use-livestock-54242

8.

Moodie, Alison. (2017, January 8). Will new FDA Rules Curb the Rise of Antibiotic Resistant

Superbugs? The Guardian. Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/ 2017 /jan/08/fda-antibiotic-use- in-

livestock

Moskvitch, Katia. (2015, January 28). How to Solve the Problem of Antibiotic Resistance.

Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article

/how-to-solve-the-problem-of-antibiotic-resistance/

The Latest Reason Why Hospitals Should Limit Antibiotic Use. (2017, April 7). University of

Maryland. Retrieved from https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/ latest-reason-why -

hospitals- should-limit-antibiotic-use