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Environmental Science 15th Edition by Scott Spoolman,Tyler Miller
Edition 15ISBN: 978-1305090446Environmental Science 15th Edition by Scott Spoolman,Tyler Miller
Edition 15ISBN: 978-1305090446 Exercise 11
GENETIC RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS IS INCREASING
Antibiotics are chemicals that can kill bacteria. They have played an important role in the 30-year increase in American life expectancy since 1950.
In 2014, the World Health Organization issued a report warning that the age of antibiotics may be coming to an end, because disease-causing bacteria are becoming genetically resistant to the antibiotics that we have long used to fight infectious diseases such as ear infections, bloodstream infections, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, and gonorrhea. We are falling behind in our efforts to prevent infectious bacterial diseases because of the astounding reproductive rate of bacteria, some of which can grow from a population of 1 to well over 16 million in 24 hours. This allows bacteria to quickly become genetically resistant to an increasing number of antibiotics through natural selection (see Figure 4.9, p. 74).
Other factors can promote such genetic resistance to antibiotics. One is the spread of bacteria around the globe by human travel and international trade. Another is the overuse of pesticides, which leads to growing populations of pesticide-resistant insects and other carriers of bacterial diseases. In addition, some drug-resistant bacteria can quickly transfer their resistance to nonresistant bacteria by exchanging genetic material.
Yet another factor is the overuse of antibiotics for colds, flu, and sore throats, most of which are viral diseases that cannot be treated with antibiotics.
In many countries, antibiotics are available without a prescription, which promotes excessive and unnecessary use. Also, the growing use of antibacterial hand soaps and other antibacterial cleansers could be promoting antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
Bacterial resistance to some antibiotics has also increased because these drugs are widely used to control disease and to promote growth among dairy and beef cattle, poultry, hogs, and other livestock that are raised in large numbers in crowded conditions. In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that about 80% of all antibiotics used in the United States and 50% of those used worldwide are added to the feed of healthy livestock. The FDA found that 18 of 30 antibiotics used on livestock between 2001 and 2010 posed a high risk to human health through exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food.
As a result of these factors acting together, every major disease-causing bacterium has now developed strains that resist at least 1 of the roughly 200 antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections, and a growing number of bacteria have developed genetic resistance to more than one antibiotic. We are now seeing the emergence of superbugs , bacteria that resist all available antibiotics. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that each year, at least 2 million Americans get infectious diseases from superbugs, and at least 23,000 die. Also, 1 of every 25 U.S. hospital patients picks up such an infection while in the hospital.
For example, a bacterium known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA (or "mersa"), has become resistant to most common antibiotics. This type of staph infection first appears on the skin as a red, swollen, and sometimespainful pimple or boil that will not heal. MRSA can cause a vicious type of pneumonia, flesh-eating wounds, and a quick death if it gets into the bloodstream. MRSA can be found in hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, schools, meeting rooms, gyms, and college dormitories. It can be spread through skin contact, unsanitary use of tattoo needles, and contact with poorly laundered clothing and shared items such as towels, bed linens, athletic equipment, and razors.
Health officials warn that we could be moving into a post-antibiotic era of higher death rates. No major new antibiotics have been developed in recent years, mostly because drug companies lose millions of dollars developing new antibiotics that are used for only a short time to treat various infections, compared to more profitable drugs that users take daily for chronic health problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Researchers are evaluating the use of trace amounts of silver to boost an antibiotic's power. They are also using computer analysis to look for gene patterns in microbes that could be used to develop new antibiotics. Researchers are also looking for ways reduce the ability of germs to cause infections by disrupting the chemical signals they use to release a toxin or to attack.
Critical Thinking
What are three steps that you think we could take to slow the rate at which disease-causing bacteria are developing resistance to antibiotics?
Antibiotics are chemicals that can kill bacteria. They have played an important role in the 30-year increase in American life expectancy since 1950.
In 2014, the World Health Organization issued a report warning that the age of antibiotics may be coming to an end, because disease-causing bacteria are becoming genetically resistant to the antibiotics that we have long used to fight infectious diseases such as ear infections, bloodstream infections, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, and gonorrhea. We are falling behind in our efforts to prevent infectious bacterial diseases because of the astounding reproductive rate of bacteria, some of which can grow from a population of 1 to well over 16 million in 24 hours. This allows bacteria to quickly become genetically resistant to an increasing number of antibiotics through natural selection (see Figure 4.9, p. 74).
Other factors can promote such genetic resistance to antibiotics. One is the spread of bacteria around the globe by human travel and international trade. Another is the overuse of pesticides, which leads to growing populations of pesticide-resistant insects and other carriers of bacterial diseases. In addition, some drug-resistant bacteria can quickly transfer their resistance to nonresistant bacteria by exchanging genetic material.
Yet another factor is the overuse of antibiotics for colds, flu, and sore throats, most of which are viral diseases that cannot be treated with antibiotics.
In many countries, antibiotics are available without a prescription, which promotes excessive and unnecessary use. Also, the growing use of antibacterial hand soaps and other antibacterial cleansers could be promoting antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
Bacterial resistance to some antibiotics has also increased because these drugs are widely used to control disease and to promote growth among dairy and beef cattle, poultry, hogs, and other livestock that are raised in large numbers in crowded conditions. In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that about 80% of all antibiotics used in the United States and 50% of those used worldwide are added to the feed of healthy livestock. The FDA found that 18 of 30 antibiotics used on livestock between 2001 and 2010 posed a high risk to human health through exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food.
As a result of these factors acting together, every major disease-causing bacterium has now developed strains that resist at least 1 of the roughly 200 antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections, and a growing number of bacteria have developed genetic resistance to more than one antibiotic. We are now seeing the emergence of superbugs , bacteria that resist all available antibiotics. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that each year, at least 2 million Americans get infectious diseases from superbugs, and at least 23,000 die. Also, 1 of every 25 U.S. hospital patients picks up such an infection while in the hospital.
For example, a bacterium known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA (or "mersa"), has become resistant to most common antibiotics. This type of staph infection first appears on the skin as a red, swollen, and sometimespainful pimple or boil that will not heal. MRSA can cause a vicious type of pneumonia, flesh-eating wounds, and a quick death if it gets into the bloodstream. MRSA can be found in hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, schools, meeting rooms, gyms, and college dormitories. It can be spread through skin contact, unsanitary use of tattoo needles, and contact with poorly laundered clothing and shared items such as towels, bed linens, athletic equipment, and razors.
Health officials warn that we could be moving into a post-antibiotic era of higher death rates. No major new antibiotics have been developed in recent years, mostly because drug companies lose millions of dollars developing new antibiotics that are used for only a short time to treat various infections, compared to more profitable drugs that users take daily for chronic health problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Researchers are evaluating the use of trace amounts of silver to boost an antibiotic's power. They are also using computer analysis to look for gene patterns in microbes that could be used to develop new antibiotics. Researchers are also looking for ways reduce the ability of germs to cause infections by disrupting the chemical signals they use to release a toxin or to attack.
Critical Thinking
What are three steps that you think we could take to slow the rate at which disease-causing bacteria are developing resistance to antibiotics?
Explanation
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The disease causing bacteria becomes mor...
Environmental Science 15th Edition by Scott Spoolman,Tyler Miller
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