Infectious Diseases and Antibiotics Assignment
14 Pages3424 Words108 Views
Added on 2020-04-21
Infectious Diseases and Antibiotics Assignment
Added on 2020-04-21
ShareRelated Documents
Running head: ANTIBIOTICSAntibioticsName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor Note
1 ANTIBIOTICSControlling the growth of the microorganism is critical for the treatment andprevention of infectious disease caused by bacteria. One of the important agents that are usedto control microbial growth is antibiotics. The term antibiotic is derived from two Greekwords, anti meaning against and bios meaning life. Antibiotics are the by-products that aresynthesised within the microorganisms and are used to inhibit bacterial growth (bacterio-static) or to kill the micro-organisms (bactericidal) (Owen, Punt and Stranford 2013). Thefirst ever antibiotic is Penicillin, from Penicillium notatum, discovered by Sir AlexanderFleming, a Scottish scientist in the year 1928. Fleming though contributed towards a pathbreaking discovery, but also stated an alarming prediction and that too, 80 years ahead of histime. After he was credited with a Nobel prize for his novel discovery in the year 1945,Fleming said that“The thoughtless person playing with penicillin treatment is morallyresponsible for the death of the man who succumbs to infection with the penicillin-resistantorganism” (Calderone, 2015).Figure 1: Properties of Antimicrobial Drugs(Source: Owen, Punt and Stranford 2013)
2 ANTIBIOTICSFigure 2: Microbial Source of Antibiotics(Source: Owen, Punt and Stranford 2013)Threat Arising from Antimicrobial Resistance and over use of AntibioticsAntimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats worldwide that is affectinghuman health. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has more annualmortality rate than HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and other homicidal activities. It isestimated that 20% of the previously treated cases of tuberculosis strain are now resistant torifamcipin and isoniazid (Llor and Bjerrum 2014). For the last 10 years, the anti-tuberculosisagents are effective against tuberculosis but at present, that effect is insufficient. Today, morethan half of the multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis is effectively treated along theapplication of other existing drugs (World Health Organization 2014). Extensively MDRtuberculosis strains have been detected in 84 different countries (World Health Organization2013). Apart from tuberculosis, extended-spectrum beta-lactam producing Enteroacteriaceaeand Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae has been recently isolated (Society ofHealthcare Epidemiology of America 2012). There is a huge dearth of development of newchemotherapeutic agents against the existing MDR bacteria with a special mention to those
3 ANTIBIOTICSproducing carbapenemases (Boucher et al. 2013). Moreover, none of the antibiotics, whichare currently available, are effective against treating the disease. Antibiotic resistance is alsoa predominant problem under the clinical settings of the hospitals. According of the Nationalcollaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (2010), MDR bacteria is also detected among thepatients of the primary care. As per the report of the WHO, this scenario is not common inthe poor or the third world countries; the situation is equally relevant throughout the world.However, the rate of antibiotic resistance among the bacteria varies between the countries.For example the of resistant Escherichia coli varies at a rate of 18% between Greece (18.2%)and Swede (1.0%) and for Klebsiella pneumoniae, the rate of variance is 0.7% in Sweden and64.1% in Greece (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control 2011). Asia accountsfor the highest rate of antibiotic resistance with the Klebsiella pneumoniae showing resistanceagainst the third generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides and fluroquinolones. Most ofthese antibiotics are considered critical by WHO for the treatment of the bacterial infection. The problem of antibiotic resistance not only hampers the community, but also affectsat individual level. According to the recent reports patients who are treated with antibioticsfor respiratory tract infection or urinary tract infection, reported the persistence of theindividual resistance for up to 12 months after the treatment and thus generating need for thesecond-line of antibiotic treatment. Countries which have higher rate of antibioticconsumption have higher rate of antibiotic resistance. Infection caused by the antibioticresistant bacteria generates severe illness along with increased risks of medicalcomplications, increase rate of hospitalization and mortality rates (Livermore 2012).Antibiotic resistance leads to increase health-care costs, amounting to about €9 billionannually in Europe (Oxford and Kozlov 2013).
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.
Related Documents
Impact of Antimicrobial Resistance on Healthlg...
|3
|447
|65
Multi Drug Resistant Bacteria (Doc)lg...
|3
|457
|86
MDR Tuberculosis: Role of Agent, Host and Environment Factors, and Potential Policy Responseslg...
|16
|4507
|224
Production and Use of Vaccines (Doc)lg...
|11
|2659
|96
Drug Development Assignment for Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosislg...
|4
|507
|216
History of the Antibiotic Eralg...
|4
|632
|375