Antibacterial Resistance!!! Oh no!

What do you suppose would happen to mankind if every known antibiotic treatment became useless? What would happen if penicillin, the greatest accidental discovery of all time, and the most prescribed of all antibiotics, was worthless? After all, our bodies are attacked by billions of bacteria all of the time.

This scenario could become reality if we continue to overuse and abuse antibacterial products. Antibacterial resistance has not affected many diseases yet, but there are a few that are almost unstoppable right now. We all need to be careful with antibiotics and we need to educate others about the danger of antibiotic abuse so that people discontinue their abuse of antibiotics.

It is understandable that many people use antibiotics when they feel sick because they are a great medicine. However, many people overuse antibiotics, mistakenly using them to treat viruses against which they have no effect. People sometimes even use them on common colds. This is the biggest problem. Sick people should see a doctor rather than attempt to diagnose and treat themselves with the wrong medicines. A doctor may prescribe an antibiotic if the symptoms indicate that such medicine should be used, but people need to understand that antibiotic abuse contributes to the problem of bacterial resistance. The point is not to stop using antibiotics altogether, because they are effective when necessary, but rather, use them more sparingly. How can we expect to rid ourselves of these illnesses when antibiotic abuse actually makes these bacterial “bugs” stronger and more resistant to treatment?

Another problem with antibiotics is that people misuse them even when they are prescribed correctly. Sick people who begin to feel better often do not finish their prescription. This is an issue because the strongest bacteria are the last to die, and if they are not killed, these bacteria will multiply and evolve, becoming more resistant to future treatment. That is why it is important to always finish a course of antibiotics. Despite the fact that you may believe that you do not overuse or mistreat antibiotics yourself, this evolution of the bacteria is called bacterial resistance and the issue affects everybody. These once small bugs evolve to become immune to antibiotics, affecting everyone who is sickened by them.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, is the most well known example of a disease that has become resistant to antibiotic treatment. MRSA is a type of staph infection that commonly occurs, strangely enough, in hospitals. According to a report in the BBC News, in 2010 there were 2,704 deaths linked to the infection, down from the 8,324 recorded in 2007. Although the number of deaths has gone down recently, it still is a major cause of concern. The reason for fewer MRSA deaths recently is not due to better antibiotic treatment but because people are more aware of the sickness and its causes. People are now more careful and sanitary, resulting in them not catching the bug in the first place. MRSA was once easily treated with antibiotics, but due to misuse, the bug has become resistant to treatments that once were effective. Too often, people did not finish their course of antibiotics when this bug attacked them. So now, it has evolved and is a deadly disease that antibiotics cannot control.

Similarly, antibacterial soaps are dangerous. Products labeled “antibacterial” are used to rid bodies of bacteria and can be dangerous because our bodies need exposure to bacteria in order to develop natural resistance to them. Hand washing can be done just as effectively with regular soap not containing antibacterial substances. This is a prime example of using antibacterial products unnecessarily. The bugs are becoming immune to the antibiotics because we are using antibacterial soap on them. If we were to use regular soap, this would not happen. Therefore, if you ever see antibacterial soap at your school, in a public restroom, in a doctor’s office, or even in your own home, suggest that it be replaced with the regular version of the product and tell the person in charge that it can be harmful to everyone to overuse antibacterial treatments.

Likewise, farmers also contribute to antibacterial resistance. Many farmers feed their livestock antibiotics with their food in order to make them bigger. This helps the farmers sell their livestock as meat, but this is, once again, an unnecessary use of antibiotics. Also, we eat the meat that they sell. This meat has antibiotics in it and gets into our bodies when we eat the meat. This is similar to us taking antibiotics unnecessarily. So, this is why educating others about the issue is important, because stopping farmers from doing this could help with the problem.

In conclusion, antibacterial resistance is a problem that is in our future if we continue to misuse antibiotics. Imagine, in the future, people dying daily due to what are now small, treatable diseases. This can be prevented if we treat antibiotics correctly. Remember to do four major things: always finish the course of antibiotics, always ask the doctor before taking antibiotics, tell people about the problem, and ask for antibacterial household products to be replaced with the regular form of the product. If we do not take care of these tasks immediately, the end of the human race could come sooner than expected.