Antibiotic Resistance Essay -- Medicine Science Papers

"Antibiotic Resistance" I. Abstract When penicillin was first administered in 1943, it proved to be extraordinary at wiping out nasty cases of syphilis, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and meningitis infection. With the threat of these deadly infections in ‘check,’ pharmaceutical industries then cut back on their research to discover even more effective antibiotics. This new-found medical confidence inspired patients to merrily run to the clinic to get penicillin prescriptions for everything from nausea and diarrhea to running nose and sneezing, and doctors to happily prescribe the ‘miracle drug.’ However, microorganisms are now evolving and developing unprecedented resistance to penicillin and other once potent drugs, like vancomyocin. Currently, vancomyocin is the most potent drug on the market, and  ¼ of all enterococci are resistant to it ("A New Gap†¦," 1997). In the April 28, 1994 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers identified a bacteria that was resistant to all antibiotics (Lewis, 1997). The number of resistant strains of bacteria are rapidly growing, and a panic is beginning to spread in the medical field, as it has been caught ‘off-guard’ by the most recent developments. It takes decades to develop new antibiotics, and the pharmaceutical industries have spent the last few decades focusing on other concerns. Even though our arsenal of antibiotics is diminishing, it is clear that there will be no new ‘miracle drugs’ for quite some time. Since we will soon run out of effective antibiotics, we must do what we can to preserve the potency of our current resources. This paper will provide a background on how antibiotics work and also on the mechanism by which bacteria acquire resistance. Also part ... ...bson, David. (1997b). How does resistance occur? [Online] Available: http://www3.hmc.edu/~dgibson/antibiotics/resistance.html. King, John W. M.D. (1997). Antibiotic Resistance. [Online] Available: http://www.ccm.Isumc.edu/bugbytes/bb-v2n13.htm. Lewis, Ricki PhD. (1997). The Rise of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections. [Online] Available: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/795_antibio.html. Nemecek, Sasha. (1997, Feb). Beating Bacteria. Scientific American, 38-39. (1997, June). A New Gap In The Antibiotic Arsenal. Science News, 151, 348. (1996, May). Reducing Antibiotic Resistance. Nature, 381, 120-121. Smaglik, Paul. (1997, May 17). Proliferation of Pills. Science News, 151, 310-311. Thompson, Clare. (1997, June 8). False Economies Breed Superbugs. New Scientist, 6. Travis, John. (1996, June 1). Biological Warfare. Science News, 149, 350-351.