Antibiotic Resistance a little Q&A (that was “Q”) with the U.S. CDC

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Bacteria are living things.  Specifically, single-celled organisms found both in our bodies and upon our skin.  Bacteria have apparently evolved with us and most bacteria are not harmful.  A virus is an organism which requires a host (cells of the body) in which to live.

Why is this distinction important?  Because colds and the flu are caused by viral not bacterial infection.  Treating a cold with an antibiotic (antibacterial or antimicrobial drug) will not have any beneficial effect to the patient.

So let’s ask the CDC-

Q.  What is an antibiotic? A: Antibiotics, also known as antimicrobial drugs, are drugs that fight infections caused by bacteria. Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1927. After the first use of antibiotics in the 1940s, they transformed medical care and dramatically reduced illness and death from infectious diseases.  Although antibiotics have many beneficial effects, their use has contributed to the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Q: What is antibiotic resistance? A: Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of an antibiotic. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply causing more harm.

Q.  Why should I care? A: Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. Almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment when it is really needed. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can quickly spread to family members, schoolmates, and co-workers – threatening the community with a new strain of infectious disease that is more difficult or impossible to cure and more expensive to treat. For this reason, antibiotic resistance is among CDC’s top concerns.  A common misconception is that a person’s body becomes resistant to specific drugs. However, it is microbes, not people, that become resistant to the drugs.

Wait, what? Okay here it is in a simplified and non-governmental approved format. Antibiotics are valuable medications.  However, they are overused both medically and agriculturally.  Very overused. The more bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, the greater the possibility of developing strains of bacterial infections that do not respond to antibiotics such as MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and VRE (vancomycin resistant enterococci) and before long ZOMG!  Well, maybe not Zombies.  Not yet anyway.

~Posted by David Marc Schwadron, Esquire