Antibiotic Resistance: What Causes It

Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to resist the effects of an antibiotic. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or completely eliminates the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply, therefore causing more harm.
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 affected by 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 to cure and more expensive to treat. Antibiotic resistance can cause significant danger and suffering for children and adults who have common infections, once easily treatable with antibiotics.
A common misconception is that a person's body becomes resistant to specific drugs. However, it is the bacteria, not people, that become resistant to the drugs. If a bacteria is resistant to many drugs, treating the infections it causes can become difficult or even impossible. Someone with a disease that is resistant to a certain antibiotic can pass that resistant disease to another person. In this way, a hard-to-treat illness can be spread from person to person. In some cases, the illness can lead to serious disability or even death.
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of the antibiotics created to cure the infections or diseases. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply, causing more harm. Antibiotics kill or inhibit the growth of affected bacteria. Sometimes one of the bacteria survives because it has the ability to withstand or escape the effect of the antibiotic. That one bacterium can then multiply and replace all the bacteria that were killed off.
  Antibiotic use encourages the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Every time a person takes antibiotics, the sensitive bacteria are killed, leaving the resistant germs to grow and multiply. Repeated and improper uses of antibiotics are the main causes of the increase in drug-resistant bacteria. While antibiotics should be used to treat bacterial infections, they are not effective against viral infections such as the common cold, most sore throats, and the flu. Widespread use of antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. Smart use of antibiotics is the key to controlling the spread of resistance.

Antibiotics: An Overview

Antibiotics, also known as antibacterials, are medications that destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria. They are powerful medicines that fight certain bacterial infections and can save lives when used properly.
Antibiotics either kill bacteria or prevent its reproduction. They cannot fight viral infections.
Before bacteria can multiply and cause symptoms, the body's immune system can usually kill them. Our white blood cells attack harmful bacteria and, even if symptoms do occur, our immune system can usually cope and fight off the infection. There are occasions, however, when it is all too much, and some help is needed, and this is where antibiotics can be used.
There are two main types of antibiotics, ones that can affect a wide range or ones that can affect a few types (small range, or narrow range). Antibiotics that affect a wide range of bacteria are called broad-spectrum antibiotics (eg, amoxicillin and gentamicin). Antibiotics that affect only a few types of bacteria are called narrow-spectrum antibiotics (eg, penicillin). Different types of antibiotics work in different ways. For example, penicillin destroys bacterial cell walls, while other antibiotics can affect the way the bacterial cell works.
An antibiotic is given for the treatment of an infection caused by bacteria. It is not effective against viruses. If antibiotics are overused or used incorrectly, there is a risk that the bacteria will become resistant - the antibiotic becomes less effective, or possibly not work at all, against that type of bacteria.
Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, not your body. What you do as an individual has a real impact on antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is accelerated by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, as well as poor infection prevention and control.
While there are some new antibiotics in development, none of them are expected to be effective against the most dangerous forms of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Given the ease and frequency with which people now travel, antibiotic resistance is a global problem, requiring efforts from all nations and many sectors.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. Antibiotic resistance can affect anyone, of any age, in any country. Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is making the process a lot faster. A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, gonorrhea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective. Antibiotic resistance leads to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and increased mortality.

The Problem and Our Solution

Overview

Antibiotics are medicines that either kill bacteria or stop them from reproducing. Most of the time, however, our body's immune system can kill them. Of course, there will always be a time when it becomes too much, and that is where antibiotics are useful. However, antibiotics are only useful against bacteria, and not viruses.

The Problem

Though antibiotics were originally made with the purpose of killing off bacteria, it has created a problem that we were not expecting; Antibiotic Resistance. They can be bought without a prescription, at any drugstore, at any time. Antibiotic Resistance has accelerated because of the misuse of Antibiotics, since they are easily accessible, and most people do not know about the lasting consequences of taking too many antibiotics.

Our Solution

We hope that by educating the public and giving classes and selling educational material, we will help spread awareness about antibiotics and their lasting consequences for bacteria and your bodies. We will be surveying our community and our peers to help find out what we need to focus on, and once our program goes live we will be surveying our community to find out how our program has helped. We thank you for supporting us in our efforts!