The Growing Risk of Antibiotic-Resistant Super Bacteria

Andrew Goldstein

Professor Paretta

English 101

10 October 2014

The Growing Risk of Antibiotic-Resistant Super Bacteria

        For the majority of the history of mankind, disease and sickness were thought to be the result of a punishment, or “curse.”  This theory was one of the only explanations that people had for disease, making it widely-believed common knowledge.  Life, as the world knew it, would soon begin to revolutionize after the discovery of microorganisms by the merchant, Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, who was attempting to make a microscope to look at cloth fibers and then accidentally discovered the existence of microbes after examining pond water (Senior, “).  In time, this large step for mankind helped Robert Koch prove that the disease, Anthrax, was caused by a bacterium, and develop Germ Theory, which uses Koch’s Postulates to determine if a bacteria is disease-causing (Senior, “Bacteria Discovered”).  In an effort to prevent bacterial infections and cure bacterium-inflicted disease, the first antibiotics, such as Penicillin, were created during the 1940s, making an immediate impact on lives all over the world (Senior, “Bacteria Discovered”). Now, over seventy years later, the world is facing an even more frightening issue than it could’ve ever collectively imagined would arise: the miracle cures for bacterial infections are gradually losing their renowned effectiveness.  The antibiotics meant for fighting disease aren’t steadily getting weaker. The actual issue is the disease is steadily becoming more resilient and becoming part of the growing list of known super bacteria.  In order to gain awareness to prevent these “super bugs,” understanding bacteria, reviewing antibiotics and how they function, knowing how the super bacteria are forming and the risk that they pose for the entire world, and discovering the solutions needed to completely curb the epidemic is absolutely necessary.

        Bacteria are single-celled, Prokaryotic organisms, which live on this Earth in astronomical quantities and can only be seen underneath the lens of a microscope.  While some bacteria live in the extremes of Earth, such as the icy Arctic and the arid Sahara, most of the species thrive in environments that also support the life of more complex organisms, including humans (Senior, "What Are Bacteria?").  Unlike the complex structure of plant and animal eukaryotic cells, Prokaryotic cells have a rod or spherical basic structure that lack a cell nucleus and other common organelles, which usually carry out cell functions.  Without a nucleus to contain a bacteria’s DNA, the bacteria has a cell wall that contains cytoplasm, inside of which the DNA of the organism floats around, carrying out its normal cell functions.  Bacteria reproduce through Asexual Reproduction (reproducing on its own, without a partner), dividing itself into two completely separate, yet identical, cells.  In the proper conditions, bacteria can even double its colony numbers in size in about twenty minutes (Senior, "What Are Bacteria?")!

        Generally, there are two types of bacteria, one being friendly, and the other being pathogenic.  “Friendly” bacteria can be found living on the skin, which can prevent the start-up of an infection, and it can also be found in the digestive system of many mammals, including humans, contributing to the digestive process and even releasing nutrients that are necessary for everyday life (Senior, "What Are Bacteria?").  In addition to benefitting the health of mammals, some “friendly” bacteria contribute to the natural decay of the dead organisms in the environment as well as even converting wastes into non-harmful by-products.  These Prokaryotic cells are found to be “Gram Positive,” according to a dye test which tests for an outer cell membrane. Lacking an outer cell membrane, these “Gram Positive” cells makes are very sensitive to antibiotics, unlike Pathogenic bacteria (“Gram”). Pathogenic bacteria are the disease-causing organisms that enter body tissues through the mouth, eyes, and lungs, and are “Gram Negative,” making them much less susceptible to antibiotics meant to prevent them from spreading (“Gram”).

        Antibiotics are “powerful” medications with the sole purpose of treating and eradicating a bodily infection caused by a strain of bacteria, such as Tuberculosis (Nordqvist).  The first of any antibiotic, Penicillin was created with the mission of saving lives around the globe, and making the world a healthier planet to live on.  Along with other medications, Penicillin is composed of chemicals from soil bacteria and some types of fungi (Nordqvist). Successors soon filled the shelves of the world’s pharmacies.  Every antibiotic has one of two general functions, the first being absolutely killing the bacteria, and the second being the interruption of its reproduction (Antibiotics). The medication that kills the pathogens interferes with the forming of its cell wall or the operations of the cell’s contents, and it is called a bactericidal.  These types of antibiotics will attack the infectious cells, and disintegrate the outer cell membrane, thus exposing the cell and killing it (Nordqvist). The prescription that interrupts bacteria reproduction is called a bacteriostatic, once again, fully capable of ending an infectious disease.  Antibiotics are usually oral medications, or, in some cases, they can come in the form of injections with needles with a regimen that must be properly followed as directed by a doctor.  Without abiding by the prescription guidelines, a patient can find him/herself dealing with the hefty consequences of not only a relapse, but also the creation of the breeding grounds for an antibiotic-resistant super bacteria, or “super bug.”

        The creation of super bugs is plaguing society at a faster pace than ever before with new strains of bacteria becoming more resilient against antibiotics.  CHealth writes of how a super bacteria is classified:

What earns bacteria the title "superbug"? Bacteria can carry genes that allow them to survive exposure to the antibiotics we currently have. This means that infections caused by these bacteria are harder to treat, although they are not necessarily more severe or infectious. What is concerning is that the gene that carries antibiotic resistance can be passed between bacteria, allowing for the creation of bacteria that carry resistance genes to many different antibiotics, a superbug (“Superbugs”).

        Among all of the active and concerning super bugs is Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA, which has been wreaking havoc among hospitals and patients for decades, having become resistant to multiple antibiotics, including Carbapenem, that is used as a “last resort” if all else fails (“Superbugs”).  According to MicroBiology Online, a bacterial cell that gains resistance to a medication through “selective pressure” will survive a treatment, and then, in the proper conditions, can reproduce up to sixteen million cells, all of which carry the resistance gene, in a mere eight hour time span (“Antibiotics”).  Bacteria, being able to reproduce at record speeds, is brewing the recipe of disaster for the human race, so long as we cannot keep up with its evolutionary speed.