Antibiotic resistance can be defined as the ability of a microorganism to destroy or be unaffected by an antibiotic, or prevent it from entering the microorganism. Micro-organisms acquire antibiotic resistance by DNA mutations, sexual DNA transformation or harboring plasmids. Most scientists blame the bacterial antibody resistance to overuse of medications and household disinfectants. Antibiotic use promotes development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply causing more harm. Widespread use of antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. While antibiotics should be used to treat bacterial infections, they are not effective against viral infections like the common cold, most sore throats, and the flu. There are a number of antibiotics that are no longer as useful as they once were for fighting bacterial infections.
Schematic of the acquisition of antibiotic resista...
English: example of selection for bacteria by anti...
English: Diagram showing homologous recombination ...Bacterial diseases that no longer respond as well to antibiotic therapy include tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and staph infections that often occur following surgery.
Overuse of antibiotics is jeopardizing the usefulness of essential drugs. Decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use is the best way to control resistance. In 1995, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a national campaign to reduce antimicrobial resistance through promotion of more appropriate antibiotic use. Antibiotics were once considered the universal answer to all microbial diseases but the situation is changing. Increased use of antibiotics has caused the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotic. When people misuse antibiotics some meek bacterial get killed where as others develop a mutated resistance to that particular antibiotic. Bacterial resistance to antibiotic has been studied over the period and researches have found that not only does over use of antibiotics cause this situation but overuse of household...