Antimicrobial Resistance Research Paper

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is found in some pathogens after the misuse or consistent use of antibiotics, and it results in said pathogens becoming immune or resistant to treatment. The first-ever drug-resistant pathogen to be spotted was four years before the creation of Penicillin. Antimicrobial resistance threatens our way of treating common infections as the typical antibiotics used to treat infections and pathogens are less and less effective as more pathogens become resistant or immune. Sometimes, these pathogens mutate into “Superbugs”, and victims get infected by one that cannot even be treated by the extensive regime of AMR drugs developed specifically to combat AMR. Not only is AMR very deadly to humans, but also to the economy. AMR has been attributed in several instances to be the driving factor behind significant damage to health care systems and economies across the globe. This directly results in patients having longer hospital stays and overall more expensive care to ensure proper treatment.  Should nothing be done, AMR infections could eventually make up a majority of all infections, and doctors will be powerless to stop them, essentially reverting back to a time before the invention of antibiotics.

All forms of surgery become much more risky for the patient as drug-resistant pathogens could be easily transferred, putting the patient at significant risk. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antibiotics. This drug resistance is found not only in viruses but also in bacteria; with diseases like urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted infections, and some forms of diarrhea. Drug resistance can be found in all forms, not only in viruses or bacteria as mentioned previously, but also in fungi, parasites, and more. A proper global response is needed to combat AMR as a small group of scientists is nowhere near enough to deal with this pressing issue. It is estimated that if something is not done, AMR could cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050, deaths that could be treated otherwise.  (Alston, Fionna 2019). As stated before, constant use of medicine only increases bacterial or viral infections that are immune to daily medicine. This translates into daily life by using cold medicine for bacteria when it's actually a virus, which would make the. Antimicrobial resistance can limit the way we function as a society, potentially seeing other lockdowns such as the COVID-19 lockdown. Prevalence of AMR could lead to similar actions taken to stop COVID, but put into place for much longer and much more frequently.

The best way to prevent AMR from becoming extremely prevalent is to regulate the prescription of drugs and to only take drugs for the proper infection or illness. About 1.5 million people die every year from drug-resistant infections, and actions must be taken to avoid these deaths from climbing (Williams, A, ScD. 2019). The rise of these superbugs can endanger life-saving procedures such as surgery, chemotherapy, and organ transplants (Savage, Nature 2019). People are in hospitals with infections that cannot be treated with infections. By 2030 we could be seeing a Gross domestic product (GDP) loss of up to 3.4 trillion US dollars (ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICES, 2019). Not only people's lives will be affected, but the economy will take a disastrous turn for the worse. Antibiotics could be way harder to get to prevent AMR from spreading, and doctor diagnoses may be required for access to common antibiotics, such as cold medicine.  Like the COVID-19 pandemic, if these drug-resistant illnesses were to spread rapidly, we could also be facing a shortage of doctors. We can be living in a closed society, having prolonged quarantines to prevent the spread.

Not only can humans contract these illnesses, but animals can as well. Antibiotics administered to animals by humans can cause AMR when issued in too high quantities or unnecessarily. Typically the antibiotics administered to animals remain in the meat consumed by people, which has been proven to cause AMR. According to Gorbach, 20 percent of sample meats in supermarkets are contaminated with salmonella, and 84% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial. Coming from the same article, 17 percent of chickens obtained had strains of Enterococcus faecium(A non-hemolytic bacterium), that were resistant to quinupristin-dalfopristin(A medication that treats bacteria). This is due to the distribution of virginiamycin (A streptogramin antibiotic) in chicken feed. Over 80% of salmonella infections were from food animals(animals such as cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens). Any food meat has the potential to contain these infections despite the study only examined a select few. This is particularly worrying as people will have to worry not only about contracting diseases from others, but also from the food they are consuming. Common illnesses such as colds, flu, or even a small illness could require hospital visits with no treatable options should the issue of AMRs remain unaddressed. More lethal and deadly illnesses could require greatly extended hospital visits and the usage of stronger medicines, or even be faced with the lack of any proper care due to the illness being resistant. Drug-resistant infection treatment costs have doubled annually since 2002, now exceeding 2 billion dollars annually (Thorpe, 2018). Treatment of AMR is extremely difficult as lack of antimicrobial therapy is severely lacking, and initial treatment may fail. Doctors now are struggling to help patients infected with these drug-resistant pathogens. According to Thorpe,, having antimicrobial resistance added an average of $1,383 to the cost of treating a patient. In the years 2006-2012, 30 percent of antibiotic prescriptions written in ambulatory care were not correct, and unnecessarily prescribed. Unnecessary prescriptions can harm people today and are one of the leading causes of resistant infections spreading rapidly in society. Natural ways to solve common illnesses at the least to help the problem that is antimicrobial resistance have to be found and developed. To treat bacterial infections, phage therapy is a potential treatment. Phage therapy only attacks bacterial infections. Using antibiotics on viruses also harms people as antibiotics are only meant to treat bacterial infections, not viral infections.

AMRs affect how people eat, go to social events and treat infections and illnesses. Prolonged hospital stays will be required if one were to catch an illness that is resistant, and more money will be spent trying to treat it. Several NGOs and organizations are trying to solve this issue, and with COVID-19 dying out, more of the scientific focus is on combating the AMR problem. More loans are being dedicated to this challenge, and governments are starting to take notice before this disaster occurs, not only for the lives lost but also for the potential economic disaster. More antibiotics are being produced only for resistant illnesses which can be valuable for the current issues faced. Vaccines for illnesses should also be promoted heavily to prevent getting the illness in the first place. Climate change, water shortages, and other natural disasters are all future threats to the human species, but AMRs.can present an even bigger threat to humans than all of these.