Bacteria and Antibiotics

Bacteria

• Bacteria are small, microscopic organisms found in most environments, including soil, water, and the human body.
• There are approximately 50 million bacteria in every gram of surface soil.
• Bacteria play a crucial role in degrading the food we eat and protecting against pathogens.

Disease-Causing Bacteria

• Some bacteria can cause infections and even death.
• Infections can be acquired from outside the body through sources like other humans, animals, food, and water.
• Examples of bacterial infections include pneumonia, blood stream infections, urinary tract infections, wound infections, and gonorrhea.

Antibiotics

• Antibiotics are medicines used to treat bacterial infections.
• Examples of antibiotics include penicillin and Ciprofloxacin.
• Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and introduced as a medicine in the 1940s.
• Antibiotics can have either a broad or narrow spectrum, with broad spectrum antibiotics effective against many types of bacteria and narrow spectrum antibiotics effective against one or a few types of bacteria.

Antibiotics Effectiveness

• Antibiotics are effective against certain bacterial infections, but they have only marginal effects on other infections, such as uncomplicated sinus infections and ear infections.
• The body's immune system can often take care of infections without antibiotics, but for some infections, antibiotics are life-saving medicines.

Antibiotics Classification

• Antibiotics can be classified into different classes, including:
  • Penicillins: kill bacteria by preventing the formation of the bacterial cell wall.
  • Macrolides: prevent bacteria from multiplying by keeping them from making proteins.
  • Cephalosporins: kill bacteria by preventing the formation of the bacterial cell wall.
  • Fluoroquinolones: kill bacteria by keeping them from making DNA.
  • Beta-lactams with increased activity: combinations of penicillin or cephalosporin and a beta-lactamase inhibitor that protect the penicillin or cephalosporin from being destroyed by an enzyme produced by some bacteria.
  • Tetracyclines: prevent bacteria from multiplying by keeping them from making proteins.
  • Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole: work together to inhibit the ability of bacteria to make folic acid, which is necessary for making DNA and proteins.
  • Urinary anti-infectives: depends on the specific drug, but can kill bacteria or prevent them from multiplying by keeping them from making DNA, proteins, and the bacterial cell wall.
  • Lincosamides: prevent bacteria from multiplying by keeping them from making proteins.

Antibiotic Resistance

• Antibiotics do not work against viruses.
• Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to protect themselves against the effects of an antibiotic.
• Bacteria are experts at surviving in changing environments, and in large bacterial populations, there are often a few resistant bacteria.
• Antibiotic resistance occurs when a few bacteria in a population have mutated to become resistant to antibiotics.
• The resistant bacteria can then grow and multiply, and even transfer drug-resistance to other bacteria.

Consequences of Antibiotic Resistance

• Antibiotic resistance leads to treatment failures.
• Antibiotic resistance threatens our ability to perform modern medical procedures.
• Antibiotic resistance imposes a major economic burden on society.
• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria already cause many deaths around the world.

Causes of Antibiotic Resistance

• Overuse of antibiotics: taking antibiotics when not necessary contributes to antibiotic resistance.
• Misuse of antibiotics: bacteria can take advantage of any opportunity to multiply, leading to mutation and resistance.
• Spontaneous resistance: genetic mutations in bacteria can occur naturally.
• Transmitted resistance: contagious drug-resistant bacterial infections can be passed to others.

Deadly Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

• Escherichia coli (E. coli)
• Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)
• Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae)
• Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae)
• Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii)
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa)

Antibiotic Sensitivity Test

• An antibiotic sensitivity test can help find the most effective antibiotic to treat an infection.
• The test can also help find a treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections.

Combating Antibiotic Resistance

• Practice good hygiene: handwashing and other measures can help prevent infections.
• Only take antibiotics when necessary: avoid taking antibiotics for viral infections, and only take them when prescribed by a healthcare provider.