Winning the Micro-War: Prevention and New Drugs

existence are engaged in a micro-war with bacteria, and we are losing. Bacteria instance one of the most adapt adequate organisms on the planet primarily out-of-pocket to their propensity for adopting genetic mutations.As with all evolutionary mechanisms, most mutations are both harmful or neutral they do not provide a comparative advantage to the mutated organism. Other times, however, a mutation provide debauch a parvenu and damaging environmental pressure and the organism will become well-equipped to survive and pass on its genes.This is precisely the problem with antibiotic drug resistance in bacteria human antibiotics present a new environmental pressure to the highly-adaptable micro-organisms, and some develop an ability to survive by means of mutation. That threat is magnified by the horizontal spreading of resistance through plasmid transfer and replication (Extending the Cure). To mitigate the threat of antibiotic broad bacteria, three paths must be pursued preven tion and phylogenesis of new drugs.Because antibiotic resistance arises primarily as an evolutionary solvent to environmental pressure, antibiotic resistance can be avoided by minimizing the presentation of antibiotics and using them only when truly needful. When antibiotics were first introduced, they were seen as a catholiconand rightly so, as they quickly and effectively treated diseases that had previously been vitriolic and widespread (Lewis, FDA).Unfortunately, however, this enthusiastic adoption of antibiotics has led to a dangerous over-reliance on their use. For example, many dermatologists not only prescribe antibiotics for mild acne, but they also make the mistake of frequently rotating between antibiotic types. As the info show on the Essential Biology website, rotation does not hang the preponderance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Essential Biology). In occurrence, 10.7% of patients in the resistant convention were entrap to be housing resistant bacteria, as compared to 7.7% in the control groupindicating that antibiotic rotation may actually exacerbate the problem sort of than solve it (Essential Biology). Furthermore, this method may be particularly harmful because it raises the guess that a colony of bacteria may develop into a supposed superbug by gaining resistant properties against multiple antibiotics (Breeding the Superbug).Conversely, decrease the number of antibiotic prescriptions is effective in limiting the number of antibiotic-resistant strains. Finnish researchers proved this correlation in a study where they tracked the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria while they reduced their prescriptions of Erythromycin (Essential Biology).As the data in the embarrass graphs demonstrate, prevention through reduced prescription of antibiotics seems to stem the tide of resistant bacteria by prescribing fewer antibiotics, cooks were able to more than have the persona of resistant colonies from a peak of 19.0% in 1993 to a low 8.6% in 1996a dramatic reversal (Essential Biology).However, preventative measures will only softened down the development of resistance and will not in fact solve the larger problem. To really gain ground in mitigating the cause of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers will continually need to develop new antibiotics that are heart-to-heart of killing off resistant strains of bacteria.This is where careful regulation of antibiotics could save lives if these work lines of defense are prescribed for everyday usage, the effectiveness of a doctors arsenal will be reduced and modern medicine may be powerless to stop treatable illnesses from becoming killers (Extending the Cure).If, on the other hand, doctors limit the usage of antibiotics to times when they are truly needed and researchers continue to develop new, more effective antibiotics, we will be able to minimize the ill-effects of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and win the micro-war. Our health depends on it.Wor ks CitedBreeding the Superbug. Allianz noesis Online (Ed. Valdis Wish). electronic article.http//knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/safety_security/health_pandemics/hospial_infections_mrsa.html. Accessed 3 November 2008.Essential Biology. You Decide What Can We Do some Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria?Online interactive lab. Pearson Education.http//wps.aw.com/bc_campbell_essentials_3/47/12139/3107664.cw/index.html.Accessed 3-6 November 2008.Extending the Cure Policy Responses to the Growing panic of Antibiotic Resistance.Executive summary. Extending the Cure online publication.http//www.extendingthecure.org/downloads/ETC_EXSUM.pdf. Accessed 5November 2008.Lewis, Ricki. The Rise of Antibiotic Resistant Infections. Electronic article. United StatesFood and Drug Administration. http//www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/795_antibio.html.Accessed 4 November 2008.