Combating the Rise of Antimicrobial Resistance: Strategies for Public Health and Patient Safety

Abstract

Instructor’s Name: Class Name: Date when Due: [Name] Introduction Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most challenging problems in human health today due to its implications on public safety and economic factors. estimates that the global expenditure on antimicrobials is $55 billion annually in the united states, and these drugs are also getting more expensive. Additionally, the problem is becoming increasingly worse due to the increase in drug-resistant infections and the lack of effective therapies for these infections. This leads to increased cost of healthcare because when an infection becomes resistant to antimicrobials, other treatments may crop up, which are costly yet less effective than what was previously used. estimates that around 23, 000 people in USA succumb to antibiotic-resistant infections each year, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. Definition Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microbe to withstand the effects of antimicrobial therapies that were previously effective; in other words, the microbe has become immune to that antimicrobial drug. When microbes develop AMR, they demonstrate resistance over time and can no longer respond to medicines that previously treated them. For example, Staphylococcus aureus can cause severe infections in humans by attacking internal organs and the bloodstream. Before the introduction of antibiotics, S. aureus was not considered extremely dangerous. However, reports that with the increased use of antibiotics to treat various infections over time, these bacteria started showing resistance. Now, their exposure to antibiotics often leads to severe disease. Microbes can acquire resistance traits through random mutations, natural selection, and horizontal gene transfer. The spread of antimicrobial resistance occurs when a person develops an infection that is resistant to antimicrobials. The microbe then multiplies and spreads during the illness or potentially gets shared with to several other people. Pathogens Showing High Level Of Resistance To The Antimicrobial Therapies MRSA Most physicians know MRSA as the "super bug." MRSA is responsible for many difficult-to-treat infections in hospitalized patients, and it has become resistant to methicillin, penicillins, cephalosporins, erythromycin, clindamycin, and vancomycin. MRSA develops antimicrobial therapy resistance through the production of penicillin-binding protein (PBP) enzymes. These enzymes allow MRSA to bind the beta-lactams, rendering them ineffective. Some strains of MRSA are resistant to nearly every antimicrobial agent available. Once associated with hospitals and health care workers, MRSA infections are now common in community settings such as schools and prisons. Acinetobacter Acinetobacter baumannii is a highly adaptable, aerobic, nonmotile Gram-negative bacterium that is widely distributed in nature. It causes severe nosocomial infections such as pneumonia and bloodstream infections. Many strains of A. baumannii produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs). These enzymes hydrolyze broad-spectrum cephalosporins within the class and render these drugs ineffective for the treatment of E. coli, Klebsiella oxytoca and K pneumoniae (NCBI,). Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) This type of bacteria lives in healthy people's intestines, but VRE can cause infections that are difficult to treat because many antibiotics do not work against it. In addition, these germs multiply quickly or use up available antibiotics at a faster rate. If you have been in the hospital for a long time, live in a nursing home, or have a weakened immune system from cancer treatments or...