Microbiology Essay: The Threat of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria

This essay analyzes the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly focusing on multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) in nursing home residents, based on a Science Daily news article and related research. It explores the mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance, such as increased expression of drug efflux pumps, and the role of microbial communities in fostering resistance. The essay also examines factors contributing to the spread of MDR-GNB in nursing homes, including frequent antimicrobial exposure, patient interactions, and environmental contamination. It highlights the need for multifaceted infection control strategies and advancements in drug development to combat the acquisition and spread of MDR-GNB, emphasizing the importance of considering multiple circulating species rather than individual bacteria in infection prevention initiatives. Desklib offers a wealth of study resources, including similar essays and solved assignments, to aid students in their academic pursuits.

Running head: MICROBIOLOGY
Microbiology
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Author’s note

1MICROBIOLOGY
The rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria a threat to efficacy of antibiotics
Although antibiotics have revolutionized medicine and the management of chronic
disease, however their efficacy is threatened by the rise in number of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
This essay analyzes the news articles that reports about the rise in number of antibiotic resistant
bacteria in nursing home residents and reviews research literature to find out more about the
reasons for spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
News article headline: A quarter of nursing home residents are colonized with drug resistant
bacteria.
Source: Science daily
The news article published on April 27, 2017 reported about the alarming presence of
multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDR-GNB) like E. Coli in nursing home residents and its impact
on hospitalized residents. The article also gave an insight into patient vulnerability factors and
clinical environment factors that increases the colonization of MDR-GNB (ScienceDaily 2017). I
have chosen to write and review more about the issues presented in this news article because of
the impact of anti-biotic resistance bacteria in minimizing the effects of the drugs. There is a
need to understand the mechanism of resistance and the factors that increases colonization of
bacteria in nursing home setting. This will help to identify effective infection prevention and
control measures needed in hospital setting. The news article was based on the journal article by
Aliyu, Smaldone and Larson (2017) which provided a meta-analysis on prevalence of MDR-
GNB among nursing home residents.
The review on research study to understand mechanism behind antibiotic resistant
properties of bacteria has revealed that bacteria increases the expression of drug efflux pumps

2MICROBIOLOGY
which expels the drug from cytoplasm and limits their function on target cells of the body. It
also showed that not just one single bacteria but a microbial community can also display
resistance properties. For example, when two bacteria are grown together, it develops resistance
to the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae (Richardson 2017). Hence, it can be said that
understanding the microbial context in a clinical environment might help to understand the
reasons for infectious diseases in patients.
D’Agata, Habtemariam and Mitchell (2015) also examined the dissemination of
MDRGNB in nursing home residents who are major reservoir of the bacteria. The study in
patients with dementia showed transmission both within nursing home and within nursing
homes. Frequent exposure to anti-microbial was regarded as a factor that increased the risk of
dissemination of MDRGNB. Another cause for colonization of drug resistant bacteria in nursing
home resident was the interaction with other patients and the possibility of environmental
contamination. Wang et al. (2017) explained that infection prevention initiatives fail because
individual multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDRB) are targeted and not multiple circulating species
in the hospital. Hence, this gives the insight that association between multiple MDRB and
underlying drivers should be considered to prevent its spread in clinical setting.
The review of research studies summarized the mechanism and factors that helps drug
resistance bacteria to minimize the efficacy of drugs and increase the risk of infection. Increasing
understanding regarding the role of MDRGNB in increasing drug resistant properties might help
to implement multifaceted infection control strategies. Advancement in the area of drug
development is also needed to curb the acquisition and spread of MDRGNB among nursing
home residents.

3MICROBIOLOGY
Reference:
Aliyu, S., Smaldone, A. and Larson, E., 2017. Prevalence of multidrug-resistant gram-negative
bacteria among nursing home residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. American
journal of infection control, 45(5), pp.512-518.
D’Agata, E.M., Habtemariam, D. and Mitchell, S., 2015. Multidrug-resistant gram-negative
bacteria: inter-and intradissemination among nursing homes of residents with advanced
dementia. infection control & hospital epidemiology, 36(8), pp.930-935.
Richardson, L.A., 2017. Understanding and overcoming antibiotic resistance. PLoS
biology, 15(8), p.e2003775.
ScienceDaily. 2017. A quarter of nursing home residents are colonized with drug-resistant
bacteria. Retrieved 19 February 2018, from
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170427120920.htm
Wang, J., Foxman, B., Mody, L. and Snitkin, E.S., 2017. Network of microbial and antibiotic
interactions drive colonization and infection with multidrug-resistant organisms. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, p.201710235.