Antibiotic resistance.

• • main causes of antibiotic resistance have been linked to:​

  •Over-prescription of antibiotics.​

  For example, being prescribed antibiotics for the common cold ‘just in case’ The common cold is caused by a virus and antibiotics do not work.​

  •Patients not finishing the entire antibiotic course. For example, stopping a 7 day course on day 5 because they feel better.​
• What happens when a antibiotic gains resistance

  • The microorganism initially survives exposure to the medication that would normally kill it.​
  • It then mutates, (changes) it’s shape to protect itself from the medication.​
  • These microorganisms then multiply and spread or transfer their resistance to other organisms.
• Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)​

  • One of the most well known of the ‘super bugs’​, Resistant to most antibiotics​,Carried on the skin, in the nostrils and throat.​Can cause life threatening infections if they enter wounds​
  • Screening takes place in some situations in hospitals (for example if a wound won’t heal or is infected)​
  • Treatment starts with an antibacterial wash solution.​
  • More recently, some hospitals routinely swab all new admissions.​
  • Also strains of Tuberculosis (TB) , Malaria and more recently, the STD Gonnorrhea that have become resistant to medications.​
• Mutating viruses​

  • It is not just bacteria that can mutate and become resistant.​
  • Viruses naturally mutate over time .​
  • Once mutated, the immune system no longer recognises it and therefore treats the disease as a new invasion.​
  • Influenza (flu) is one example of this and recently COVID-19.​
• Consequences of antimicrobial resistance​: Increased mortality rates, increased costs, reduced effectiveness of antibiotics