Antimicrobial resistance happens when microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, and other harmful infections would be resistant to the antimicrobial drugs you ingest. When this happens, the treatments given to reduce the symptoms of the bacteria in the body become ineffective and aggravate it. It eventually increases the spread of the disease. It is not so easy to resist antibiotics as a result of which the public health would be at stake. The antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms are known as superbugs.
This resistant mechanism is spreading slowly and is making it impossible to treat the infections. If the infections are not addressed in the initial stages, it leads to severe health problems, disabilities, and death.
Many medical procedures will fail if there is no prevention for the antimicrobial resistance, especially organ transplantation, chemotherapy, and other major surgeries. The worst thing is that the antimicrobial resistance would also increase health care costs.
The patient might need to stay in the hospital for a long time than required to get rid of the health issues that he/she is facing.
The microbes would evolve and grow at a rapid pace. These will spread immediately. More importantly, the microbes can resist any kind of environment. Even though it is tough, but it adapts to the environment and survives. If you cease their growth, there will be many genetic changes that make the bacteria to survive.
Table of Contents
Causes of antimicrobial resistance
Natural causes of antimicrobial resistance
Selective pressure
When there is a presence of antimicrobial, the microbes are killed immediately, or if they are carrying the resistant genes, these microbes survive for a long time. These survivors would double and start to spread at a jet speed. The microbial population in the body would increase.
Mutation
The microbes will get divided after every few hours, which will let them grow at a brisk pace and adapt to the new environmental conditions. When they are replicated, the mutations will occur, and the mutation would make the microbe to get exposed to the new environmental condition.
Gene transfer
It is one of the causes of antimicrobial resistance. Microbes would transfer the genes between one another. These genes are what make the microbe highly resistive. The bacteria keep on multiplying in number, and it goes till billions.
The bacteria that have the DNA, which can resist the drug, would be transferred to other bacteria to make it resistive to the drugs. If the bacteria are non-resistive, it will receive a new DNA that makes it resistant to the drugs. When it comes to drugs, only the drug-resistant bacteria will survive. These will multiply and grow.
Societal pressures
There is some sort of selective pressure created to make the organisms resistive. There are a few societal pressures that would increase the resistive power of bacteria for drugs.
Do not use properly
The microbes will get doubled when you do not use the antimicrobial drugs properly. There are times when the healthcare or medical practitioners would be prescribing the drugs in an inappropriate dosage due to which the infection would increase.
No proper diagnosis
Many healthcare professionals do not have enough medical information about the patient to diagnose them with the appropriate treatment. Many would prescribe antimicrobial just for the infection. Instead of prescribing an antimicrobial, they can prescribe an antibiotic, which is far better. This type of conditions would increase the pressure and results in the growth of microbes in the body.
Hospital use
Patients who are ill are prone to infections quickly. They would need antimicrobial to treat those infections. When there is a high dosage of antimicrobials used by the patient, the problem gets aggravated, and the bacteria start to dominate the drug you ingest.
When you use a drug extensively, and when a person who is suffering from illness gets in close contact with the fertile environment, it results in the spread of the germs.
Agricultural use
Many scientists have conducted the research and found that the usage of antimicrobial in the agricultural feed would improve the resistive drug power. The antibiotics that are born in many countries are used in agriculture. There is a question of whether the antimicrobial drugs used on animals would pose a threat to humans or not.
How can you keep antimicrobial resistance at bay?
The antimicrobial resistance will develop when the bacteria possess the defensive power against the antibodies that are strong enough to kill the bacteria. It makes the drugs of no use and improves the growth of the germs and bacteria in the body. It becomes challenging to give treatment to the infections by prescribing drug-resistant infections.
Here are a few ways you can embrace to prevent the Antimicrobial resistance:
Thoroughly wash the hands
There are millions of germs to which the human body comes in contact every day. You must wash the hands before eating something to avoid the bacteria from entering your body. It is the best solution to prevent from falling ill to infections.
Learn about the symptoms
You must sense the symptoms of the infection in the initial stage. If you have an infection, you must see the healthcare professional immediately before it turns worse.
Ask questions about the infection
When the healthcare professionals prescribed the antimicrobial drugs, you must ask whether you would be vulnerable to the side effects. You can also take tips from them to keep your premises neat and avoid infections.
Learn how to use antimicrobials
If you are prone to any infection, you may not require antimicrobial for all. You must see a healthcare professional get a prescription from them.
They will prescribe you with the best antimicrobial and in the right dosage that you must take at the right time to alleviate the infection. You should not insist on the healthcare professional to write antimicrobials for you when you do not require any.
Educate patients
It is essential for healthcare professionals to educate patients about the side effects of using antimicrobials. You also need to inform the misuse of antimicrobial drugs and how it can aggravate their infections.
