https://www.bbc.com/news/health-30416844
What can we do to stop the resistance of superbugs? Or is it too late?
answer question from the article in short answer and also please reply to two student
Amaya Perez
Oct 5, 2022 at 11:23 AM
According to the article “Super bugs to kill more than cancer by 2050†antibacterial assistance to superbugs are a huge problem but there are things that we can do to stop the resistance of superbugs. According to the article, we will have to look at how we can change current drugs to reduce resistance as well as increase the development of new drugs. For example, Laura paddock, a professor of microbiology at the University of Birmingham, is working on how to create antibacterial drugs for E. coli and salmonella. E. coli has a complex cell wall barrier that prevents drugs from entering the cell wall by pushing them out. In Paddock’s work, she is experimenting with how to permeate the cell wall and keep the drugs from being pushed out as well as trying to make the bacteria sensitive to antibiotics. What is needed is money to invest in the new research. I personally don’t think it’s too late but with certain bacteria being able to mutate extremely fast, we will always be playing the game catch up with the superbugs. According to the NHS, overuse of antibiotics for medical issues that are not that serious is causing antibiotic resistance Ie. ear infections /sore throats . People are quick to jump to an anabiotic instead of some other natural health or medical remedies that can cure their ailment, usually due to the need of having to get better quickly. We have to acknowledge the cost of our ” everything needs to happen now ” attitude instead of actually taking care of the body’s needs effectively, even if it takes more time to get better. I think as a society we need to start considering not always taking the shortcut of antibiotics to get better and take more natural remedy routes for non-serious issues to help curb the need for antibiotics. This could possibly help slow down the rapid mutation to antibiotic resistance of some of these bacteria.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/antibiotics/antibiotic-antimicrobial-resistance/
Yomaylin Feliz-Forman
Oct 7, 2022 at 1:27 AM
Unit 6 Discussion: Bacteria and Archae
Antibiotics have saved many lives around the world, but the rise of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (ARB) has taken front row as a public health concern. According to the linked article, “Europe and the United States’s antibiotic resistant bacteria, causes at least 50,000 deaths each year, [and scientists say that this number would] rise more than 10-fold by 2050.” This represents a serious concern because if the benefit that comes from antibiotic drugs, to inhibit bacteria or kill bacteria goes away, then medical professionals would lose the ability to treat and prevent bacteria related infections.
MRSA or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is a type of gram-positive antibiotic resistant bacteria. This bacteria which can be found on the skin can cause symptoms that may lead to endocarditis, skin infections, or even bone and joint infections. Staphylococcus Aureus is a threat for both the health care setting and community settings because it has undergone mutations that have made it resistant to antibiotics.
So, what can we do to stop the resistance of these bacterias? is it too late? I would say that a lot can be done, and that it is not too late to do more:
In 2014, former President Obama created an executive order to respond to the threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In this executive order, he asked congress for $1.2 billion to take steps for implementing what is called the “National Strategy on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.” The action plan was aimed to strengthen surveillance, slow the spread, and to improve ways to get treated and diagnose infections, by creating vaccines, and other methods to stop ARB. One of the plans called for hospitals to cut inappropriate use of antibiotics by 20 percent. And for a global database to be able to sequence data on resistant pathogens.
In 2015, a clever method called iChip, allowed scientists to develop a new antibiotic class called Teixobactin. Which prevents bacteria from making two of the lipids needed for cell wall synthesis. Scientists effectively grew microbes from a wider range of sources, using a hard piece of plastic made with 192 tiny wells. Researchers dip the chip in a bacterial sample, mix it with agar to trap the cells, and lock the wells in a secure diffusion membrane chamber. This allows for thousands of cultured bacteria to be reproduce, giving birth to the potential of a new class of antibiotics.
Another method to slow down antibiotic resistance, is to use essential oils alone, or in combination with antibiotics. Essential oils have great antibacterial properties and studies have shown their uses and effectiveness, when combined with other chemicals to treat illnesses. Essential oils like cinnamon, lavender, tea tree, and peppermint are some of the many that have been previously evaluated, and found to reduce the effects of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Essential oils are lipid soluble which help penetrate the cellular membranes composed of lipids. They can act as a type of pro-oxidant, that positively affects inner cell membranes and organelles.
Another method could involve the stop or reduction of antibiotics in agriculture. The increase for protein in agriculture has added an increase of antibiotics in crops, and insects and wildlife continue to be affected. Resistant bacteria can contaminate water, spread between the soil and animals, and within facilities. Then spread to farmers who can become colonized by these antibiotic resistant bacteria and later transfer the bacteria to the community.
The Coronavirus pandemic helped to guide people in the right track towards health, by enforcement of cleanliness, but it is my opinion that the battle will never end, as there are many factors involved that enable the increase of the threat of ARB.
References:
Campbell, Neil A, et al. Biology : A Global Approach. 12th ed. Chapter 27, Harlow, Essex, England, Pearson Education Limited, 2021.
Fergus Walsh. “Superbugs to Kill “More than Cancer†by 2050.†BBC News, 11 Dec. 2014, www.bbc.com/news/health-30416844.
OBAMA WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON. NATIONAL STRATEGY for COMBATING ANTIBIOTIC- RESISTANT BACTERIA. 2014.
Turner, Nicholas A., et al. “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: An Overview of Basic and Clinical Research.†Nature Reviews. Microbiology, vol. 17, no. 4, 1 Apr. 2019, pp. 203–218, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6939889/, 10.1038/s41579-018-0147-4.
Willis, Jace A., et al. “Breaking down Antibiotic Resistance in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus : Combining Antimicrobial Photodynamic and Antibiotic Treatments.†Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119, no. 36, 29 Aug. 2022, 10.1073/pnas.2208378119. Accessed 7 Oct. 2022.
Yap, Polly Soo Xi, et al. “Combination of Essential Oils and Antibiotics Reduce Antibiotic Resistance in Plasmid-Conferred Multidrug Resistant Bacteria.†Phytomedicine, vol. 20, no. 8-9, June 2013, pp. 710–713, 10.1016/j.phymed.2013.02.013. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.
