Antimicrobial Resistance Animation of Antimicrobial Resistance
This animation was produced by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as part of their veterinary information. The animation will reinforce things we have talked about in class with a different perspective. The twist is that we can consume pathogens from the foods we eat that could be antibiotic resistant due to the use of antibiotics in animals we consume.
Reflect on the following: What came first antibiotic resistance or the overuse of antibiotics? What is the relationship between the two? How can we reduce the development of resistant organisms? Finally, how does Horizontal Gene Transfer come in to play?
What came first antibiotic resistance or the overuse of antibiotics? What is the relationship between the two? How can we reduce the development of resistant organisms? Finally, how does Horizontal Gene Transfer come in to play?
ReplyDeleteI believe that our overuse of antibiotics caused resistance. However, there seems to have always been some level of resistance regarding bacteria simply citing "survival of the fittest". The graph you showed in class showed how the resistance rose as our use of them rose, what we thought was a great thing was, but like all things it needed to be respected and understood, we needed small doses as truly necessary, that was abused unfortunately.
One of the ways to prevent further resistance is another topic that we discussed in class, the blocking of how the bacteria or viruses give us all of their diseases. Like with the Flu, we developed drugs like Tamaflu to "block" rather then "cure". It seems to be the most natural and effective way to prevent further resistance.
Regarding horizontal gene transfer, this is the tricky part. Since bacteria can pick up genes that are floating around, and gaining the advantages of that particular DNA, we would it seems continue to having bacteria that are highly capable of acquiring new resistances, out pacing us. Bacteria have evolved quite well over time and they do it at a rate far faster than we can evolve. I unfortunately would bet on bacteria, my only hope is that we figure out how to combat bacteria in a way that does not cause further resistance and further problems. In our effort to fix a problem we created an even bigger and more threatening one.
It is my opinion that antibiotic resistance was always possible for bacteria but our overuse of antibiotics has caused the huge problem of antibiotic resistance. The correlation between the two is simple. The more we overuse antibiotics, the more bacteria become resistant to that antibiotic. The use and misuse of antimicrobial agents makes antimicrobial resistance. The resistance is caused through genetic mutation or by getting genes from other bacteria that have antibiotic resistance.
ReplyDeleteWays to reduce the development of resistant organisms would to be more careful in our use of antibiotics. If we don't expose these bacteria to antibiotics with every sneeze or cough or sign of sickness they aren't able to build up resistance to them. Also when we do take our antibiotics, take the entire dosage as the doctor says so that all bacteria die and none are left behind to mutate and resist the antibiotic the next time your body comes in contact with it. The FDA summarized bacteria antibiotic resistance well, and they have posed the question that the antibiotics we are feeding the animals we eat are being given to us and our bacteria seem to be becoming resistant to those antibiotics. We are told that organic animals are better than animals pumped with hormones and this is a good argument for that.
With HGT this is where most genetic variation in bacteria comes from. They will transfer from one independent adult bacterium to another adult bacterium. This makes antibiotic resistance very difficult to overcome because these bacteria that code for antibiotic resistance don't just need to multiply to keep the gene going, they can GIVE their resistance to already formed adult bacteria ANYWHERE around them. This hinders our ability to try and keep up with their constant ability to be resistant to antibiotics because put simply, they are working faster than we are. This is one of the reasons there have been less and less antibiotics produced year to year. In class we saw in the 1980s there were 16 one year and in 2000s there were 4. These antimicrobial bacteria are posing huge problems in the health care fields and we are failing to solve them quickly enough.
Antimicrobial resistance came after the overuse of antimicrobial agents in the environment over time. As antimicrobial agents are used to eliminate an infection, the organisms with the antimicrobial genes are left as the survivors. These organisms then reproduce (survival of the fittest) to create a bacterial population that is totally resistant to the antimicrobial.
ReplyDeleteThe most obvious method to block antimicrobial resistance is to stop using antimicrobial treatments to cure the host. Survival of the fittest would eliminate all injected organisms that were not able to overcome the infection. However, this is unethical in the medical community and cannot be implemented as a reduction strategy. The best way to reduce resistance is to cure infections with as little antimicrobial as possible, and to only use antimicrobials in extreme infectious situations. People will need to "tough-out" most illness.
HGT has its pros and cons. A major con is that genes can be rapidly transferred between bacterial cells that are in close proximity to each other and the gene on the plasmid that codes for antimicrobial resistance may be passed throughout a population quickly. The pro of HGT is that we may use it to our advantage in transformation. If we are able to add nonresistant antimicrobial genes into the bacteria's environment, then the pieces will be scavenged and incorporated into the bacteria's DNA. Quickly creating a population that is not resistant to antimicrobials.