antibiotic resistance

• Antibiotics


  A group of drugs that can kill bacteria
• Penicillin


  The first antibiotic to be discovered, almost 100 years ago
• Penicillin was able to kill loads of different types of bacteria


  But some types of bacteria have now become resistant to it
• How antibiotic resistance happens

  1. Bacteria develop random mutations in their DNA

  2. Mutations can change their characteristics

  3. Occasionally these changes result in the bacteria being less affected by the antibiotic

  4. Resistant bacteria survive

  5. Resistant bacteria replicate quickly and form a new colony
• Antibiotic resistant strain


  A new type of bacteria that has the gene for antibiotic resistance
• Antibiotic resistant bacteria


  Can be passed on to other people
• If a new antibiotic is used

  Very occasionally some of the bacteria will develop resistance to this different type of antibiotic as well
• Superbugs


  Bacteria that are resistant to lots of different types of antibiotics
• MRSA


  An example of a superbug that is resistant to a whole bunch of antibiotics
• It's super uncommon for a bacteria to develop resistance and even when they do it's often only partial resistance</b>
• By completing the course of antibiotics we can generally still kill all of the bacteria
• We use around 100,000 tons of antibiotics each year
• Over two thirds of that 100,000 tons is given to animals
• Farmers put antibiotics in the food of healthy animals to prevent them from getting ill and to make them grow faster
• This is basically a breeding ground for antibiotic resistance
• Scientists are trying to develop new antibiotics that work against resistant strains, but it is proving difficult and slow