Antibiotic: a substance that weakens or destroys bacteria.
Antibiotic resistant: when a group of bacteria can no longer be harmed or killed by a certain antibiotic......more
Immunostimulant: a drug or nutrient that increases immune function......more
Strain: a group of organisms that differ genetically from another group of organisms in the same species... more
Vaccine: a substance that provides immune memory using antigens, or dead or weak viruses or bacteria, instead of from an infection.
Although there are many more antibiotics available today than there were 50 years ago, there are also many new strains of bacteria that are not affected by them. We are constantly trying to develop new drugs, and new strategies of giving them to sick individuals to prevent the development of resistance in bacteria.
If we are to have a chance in the evolutionary battle between antibiotics and bacteria, we should keep a few things in mind.
Vaccines have also been developed that can prevent bacterial infection, such as this vaccine against Typhoid, an infection due to a type of Salmonella bacteria. Image by Kristoferb.
With all of these approaches to helping the problem of antibiotic resistance, the most important thing is to spread factual knowledge about antibiotic resistance. We can help with this problem by making sure we are educated on how we can prevent the overuse of antibiotics in our own lives, and make choices that help with this issue. It is also important that we have more scientists interested in studying bacteria and immune function, so that we can continue to come up with new strategies in the evolutionary battle between antibiotics and bacteria.
Tyler Quigley. (2017, July 18). Battling Antibiotic Resistance. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved August 23, 2024 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/battling-antibiotic-resistance
Tyler Quigley. "Battling Antibiotic Resistance". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 18 July, 2017. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/battling-antibiotic-resistance
Tyler Quigley. "Battling Antibiotic Resistance". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 18 Jul 2017. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 23 Aug 2024. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/battling-antibiotic-resistance
Part of preventing antibiotic resistance involves being careful about what medicines you take into your body and what enters our waste systems.
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