Your Health: Antimicrobial resistance
Once upon a time, there lived a couple, Tim and Suzy. Tim works at a school where he fell ill with a bacterial disease passed to him from a contaminated surface. He went to the hospital, and was prescribed an antibiotic. Tim was instructed by his physician to take the pills over a period of four days. Tim was urged to take all of the medication, even if his symptoms disappeared. Tim took his medication for three days, and he felt so much better that he decided he didn’t need to take the rest. Unfortunately, not all of the bacteria causing Tim’s sickness were killed by the medication, and those bacteria became resistant to it. Two days later, Suzy fell ill with the same bacterial disease that Tim had. Suzy received the same medication that Tim received, however Suzy was infected with the resistant bacteria. The medication that healed Tim didn’t work on Suzy, and sadly she passed away from the bacterial infection.
This story raises a lot of questions: what are bacteria, what are antibiotics/ antimicrobials, and how do bacteria become resistant to medication that is used to kill them?
Bacteria are tiny organisms that can cause infections. However, not all bacteria are bad; there are over 200 species of bacteria living in your gut right now helping you digest food. Infection causing bacteria are called pathogens, and they have specific medications that are created to kill them.
A microbe is a broad term that includes bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses. Antimicrobials are medicines that are used to kill or stop the growth of a specific microbe.
Some bacteria species are naturally resistant to certain antibiotics, other species are able to develop resistance to antibiotics by mutating themselves. The mutations affect how the antibiotic works against the bacteria.
Bacteria can change their cell membrane to remove the antibiotic, or prevent the antibiotic from attaching. They can create reactions that kill the antibiotic. Bacteria can also change their cellular processes, like creating DNA, so the antibiotic can no longer recognize it and cannot stop it. These bacterial mutations defeat the action of the antibiotic; the drugs used to kill the bacteria no longer work.
Antimicrobial resistance kills at least 1.27 million people each year worldwide. In 2019, 5 million people died from it. Even though this number is high, antimicrobial resistance can be prevented. The easiest way to prevent antimicrobial resistance is to avoid getting sick. Correctly washing your hands often helps keep you healthy. Food-borne illnesses caused by bacteria can be prevented by washing produce and cooking foods to the correct temperature. It is also important to understand that antibiotics cannot cure everything; the common cold and flu are viruses and cannot be treated with antibiotics. Only take antimicrobial medications when they are prescribed to you, and make sure you take the entirety of the medication. Antimicrobial resistance will naturally occur overtime, but it’s important for us to be educated, and do our part in slowing down the process.
Paige Haugen is a UND Medical Laboratory Scientist Student working at CHI Mercy Health, Valley City ND. Your Health is coordinated by CityCounty Health District.