We explain how the dangerous supergonorrhea appeared.
Antibiotics are substances capable of fighting bacteria.
Despite the multiple types of antibiotics that exist, there are increasingly cases of infections resistant to all known antibiotics. This is a serious problem for public health, which will see an increase in fatality and morbidity due to diseases of bacterial origin, such as E. coli infections, tuberculosis, etc.
In this article we talk about the so-called “superbugs”, pathogenic organisms capable of resisting antibiotics, our best medical asset against bacterial infections.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance are not a recent problem, as antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been known to existbefore antibiotics came on the marketin the mid-twentieth century.
Antibiotic resistance is a natural phenomenon, since microorganisms compete for available resources using a wide variety of methods, including chemical warfare, using antibiotic substances such as penicillin, secreted by the fungus Penicillium, from which Alexander Fleming derived the first antibiotic.
The problem with the use of antibiotics is that bacteria adapt very quickly to their action. This is due to its high genetic variability, population number and ability to transmit DNA horizontally, between organisms of the same or different species.
There is alsoa strong selective pressure in the environment of modern bacteria, due to the use of antibiotics by human society. This is largely because most antibiotics consumed are not for use in humans, but in livestock animals. In the US, more than 80% of antibiotics are destined for the livestock industry.
What are superbugs?
Superbugsare bacteria capable of resisting the vast majority or all of known antibiotics. The constant manufacture of new antibiotics is necessary, to avoid cases of multidrug-resistant infections, but at present this does not represent a profitable business for pharmaceutical companies, so no new antibiotics are being produced.
- You may be interested: “Listeriosis: main symptoms, causes and prevention”
In the current situation, the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has multiplied in recent years, and is only expected to increase. Of particular concern are infections ofNeisseria gonorrhoeaeorStaphylococcus aureusthat have acquired multiple antibiotic resistances, for example.
1. How superbugs appear
Superbugs are a problem of human origin. The pathogenic bacteria that parasitize our body, causing infections, already expressed some antibiotic resistance or had sufficient mechanisms and structures to be able to adapt to them easily, such as efflux pumps.
What happens is thatthe massive use of antibiotics in livestockhas greatly accelerated the adaptation of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, in this case those that affect livestock. Without antibiotics, farmers have to constantly deal with sick animals, with infections, which grow less and produce lower quality. Antibiotics allow for much more austere production conditions.
While antibiotics are being used en masse for the production of meat products, antibiotics have also beenmisused by the population, due to a lack of awareness among ordinary people and the medical community about the real risk of antibiotic resistance.
In summary, superbugs appear due to various factors derived from both human activity and the adaptive capacity of bacteria. They are a real problem, since antibiotics allow many people with pathologies – such as diabetes or cancer patients under radiotherapy treatment – to lead a normal life, since they are especially sensitive to infections.
2. What problems they can cause
Antibiotic resistance in pathogen infectionswill seriously affect global health. Our life expectancy depends largely on the effectiveness of antibiotics, as they are a fundamental part of modern medicine (they allow transplants, for example).
Unfortunately, these diseases already occur on a regular basis. Since 2013 the CDC considers that we are in the “post-antibiotic” era, and the WHO considers diseases caused by multidrug-resistant organisms a medical reality of today since 2014.
We will see an increase in mortality related to infections of E. coli, S. Aureus, orMycobacterium Tuberculosis, for example. E. coli infections are very common, especially in women and the elderly. They can become a serious problem very quickly if they don’t respond to antibiotics.
The mortality of those groups that are especially vulnerable to infections will increase irremediably, unless we solve the problem. Still, the search for new antibiotics is necessary, but it only represents a temporary patchin our race against multidrug-resistant bacteria.
To put this problem in perspective, we can take thecurrent example of MRSA—an antibiotic-resistant strain of S. aureus—which causesabout 20,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. But in addition, multidrug-resistant bacteria also negatively affect the environment, since they alter the ecological microbiome near farms and other places susceptible to their appearance, such as hospitals.
How to avoid multidrug-resistant bacteria
To combat multidrug-resistant bacteria, the coordination of society is necessary, since itis a problem of high complexity and difficult solution. The population needs to be informed about good hygienic and sanitary practices, as well as greater microbiological control in the health field and a reform of the antibiotic-based production system.
Research into new antibiotics should surely be promoted, but investment in innovative new technologies for microbial population control is also needed. Alternative antibacterial therapies, such as phage therapy or infection gene control, should be priority research subjects to avoid a major global health crisis.
Hospitals should take extreme precautionsto prevent the exit of multidrug-resistant infections from the clinical setting to the population setting. It is currently expected that by 2030 farms that use antibiotics in their production will correspond to 67% of the global production of meat products. To avoid more catastrophic consequences, antibiotic use will likely need to be restricted in terms of use in the food industry.
References
- Ventola C. L. (2015). The antibiotic resistance crisis: part 1: causes and threats. P&T: a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 40(4), 277–283.
- Kourtis AP, Hatfield K, Baggs J, et al. (2019) Vital Signs: Epidemiology and Recent Trends in Methicillin-Resistant and in Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infections — DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6809e1.
- WHO (2018). “Antibiotic resistance” Retrieved 03/0972019.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.