From our discussions in class, as well as the reading we have done thus far in class, we have learned that a superbug is an organism that has to ability to resist the effects certain antibiotics have. The organism could have somehow picked up extra genes within the environment that caused the production of a new protein. Or the organism could have experienced a mutation within its genome that caused so much change it is now resistant to the antibiotic. According to the CDC, the growing emergence of these superbugs is a huge public health issue in the world right now. They preach that one of the best ways to help prevent the emergence of more resistant organisms is to only take antibiotics when you absolutely need them. This didn’t surprise me because in class we have talked about how antibiotics will never work against a virus but countless people are seeking them out to help fight the flu or other viral infections. In line with what was explained in class, the CDC also advises individuals who are taking them to take them properly and to make sure you are finishing the full doses provided. If this is not done, there is the possibility that all of the organisms are not killed. Likely it is the strongest ones that make it that far and if those beginning to multiply again then it will be harder to kill the new colony of organisms.
When investigating what new antibiotic resistant organisms have been emerging I found that this dilemma is not only found in humans. Antibiotics are commonly used in farm animals to help aid in their growth and produce bigger, more meaty animals. But because of this there has been a rise in the antibiotic resistance within animals. From this article, I learned that they are beginning to follow and investigate the link between the high doses of antibiotics used in animals for food and the growing antibiotic resistance seen in humans. The case describes how the 4 major classes of antibiotics given to the animals appear to be the 4 drugs that bacteria have the most resistance too. Even though it was never clearly stated within the article, I feel like there could be a correlation between the fact that the animals we eat are getting injected with the drugs with the highest resistance and human antibiotic resistance increasing. Now it could just be a speculation I am making and I hope it is but it seems likely that if we are turning around and eating the food that is full of antibiotics, of course that is going to have an effect on our bodies ability to continue to fight off those bugs.
As I stated earlier it is so important to not abuse antibiotics because they wipe out your good gut bacteria and open up your body to be colonized by bacteria that might not have otherwise been able to. The resistant bacteria are able to grow and spread which makes infection from antibiotic resistant organism so hard to treat. This is also why it is important for people within the healthcare professions to understand and be able to identify the exact cause of infections. Administer broad-spectrum antibiotics before getting the results of a lab test could be more harmful to the person if it is in fact not a bacterial infection. Many things that can be done to help prevent the further resistance to drugs but ultimately these organisms have a high mutation rate and are somehow going to find ways to multiply and become not affected by our drugs.
Grace's Blog about Science 