The Antibiotic Resistance Crisis

Antibiotic resistance crisis is happening now and it seems like there is no solution to it yet. Everyone knows that the antibiotic resistance is elevating to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. The antibiotics that were used to save millions of lives are no longer effective towards the swift emergence of resistant bacteria. The new resistant bacteria mechanisms are spreading globally and the illnesses that were once easily treatable may become life-threatening infections, prolonging suffering for children and adults. For example, tuberculosis, pneumonia, salmonellosis, gonorrhea and foodborne diseases. These diseases are now harder to treat, and sometimes impossible, to cure as the effectiveness of antibiotics is greatly decreased.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious problem that both doctors and patients are responsible for prescribing and consuming antibiotics. The most important factors that cause antibiotic resistance are overuse and misuse of antibiotics, as well as lack of new antibiotics development by the pharmaceutical industry. For instance, if antibiotics are prescribed to people who have a common cold, this will lead to the acceleration of the antibiotic resistance’s process. This is because the pathogen that causes the flu is not bacteria but viruses. Thus, bacteria that are present inside the body would become antibiotic-resistant as they are exposed to the specific antibiotic at the wrong indication. Another element that contributes to this crisis is that people do not finish the entire dosage of antibiotic after they feel better. I remembered that the most common medication prescribed by the doctor to me when I have a fever is antibiotic. Antibiotic has the unpleasant taste and one of its side effects could cause nausea. Hence, many of us made the same mistake by not finishing the antibiotic completely. But in reality, the antibiotic given by the doctors must be finished even though the fever has gone away. I realized that the public awareness towards antibiotic resistance is low and this makes me feel sad.

It is terrifying to notice that the soaring numbers of antibiotic-resistant infections have turned into such a great threat to the public health. Actions should be taken to manage the problem from devastating such as implementing new policies, invest in research and development of new antibiotics, and only prescribe antibiotics when it is needed. Without these urgent actions, we might be heading for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and small injuries could be fatal. The founder of antibiotic, Sir Alexander Fleming has once warned us about the problem almost 70 years ago. But, all of us have overlooked and ignored his warning. Therefore, we are now facing all the consequences developed by antibiotic resistance. Thus, it seems to be useless to combat the problem when the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is increasing dramatically but the number of antibiotics being created remains unchanged.

Lastly, effective and appropriate use of antibiotics as well as better prevention of infections will be the first major step to address the problem of antibiotic resistance. Generally, antibiotic resistance occurs as a part of a natural process for bacteria to evolve. So, the antibiotic resistance can only be slowed down but not completely stopped. Therefore, more research and development is vital and it should be a continuous process to keep up with resistant bacteria, and when new antibiotics are developed in the future, we must remember to use them rationally.