Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

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  • Created by: Davwi
  • Created on: 16-03-19 21:24

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

  • Like all organisms, bacteria sometimes develop random mutations in their DNA. These can lead to changes in the bacteria's characteristics, e.g. being less affected by a particular antibiotic. This can lead to antibiotic-resistant strains forming as the gene for antibiotic resistance becomes more common in the population.
  • To make matters worse, because bacteria are so rapid at reproducing, they can evolve quite quickly.
  • For the bacterium, the ability to resist antibiotics is a big advantage. It's better able to survive, even in a host who's being treated to get rid of this infection, and so it lives for longer and reproduces many more times. This increases the population size of the antibiotic-resistant strain.
  • Antibiotic-resistant strains are a problem for people who become infected with these bacteria because they aren't immune to the new strain and there is no effective treatment. This means that the infection easily spreads between people. Sometimes drug companies can come up with a new antibiotic that's effective, but 'superbugs' that are resistant to most known antibiotics are becoming more common.
  • MRSA is a relatively common 'superbug' that's really hard to get rid…

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