1. Antibiotic Resistance
The Challenge in a Changing World

2. The Scene: Lilly is sick
The Scene: Lilly is sick. Poor little girl seems to have some sort of upper respiratory illness. She is taken into the doctor who wants to be extra sure this cute little girl gets better. Just to make sure he hasn’t misdiagnosed her he gives her an antibiotic, even though he is pretty sure it is a virus and just needs to run its course.

3. Here is the issue. She takes an antibiotic. Methicillin for example
Here is the issue She takes an antibiotic Methicillin for example. It kills off 99.99% of the bacteria But what about that other 0.01%?

4. It still survives and begins to reproduce like before except this time with no competition. As it undergoes binary fission it passes on its new resistant gene . . .

5. And now what happens if she really needs antibiotics
And now what happens if she really needs antibiotics? We must use an even stronger antibiotic. And who is to say that will work completely? It is a never ending game that we have created. Are we prepared for it?

6. Staphylococcus aureus
Frequently living on skin or in your nose
~20-30% of people are Staph carriers
Causes more than 500,000 hospitalized “Staph infections” in U.S. each year
Usually treated with Methicillin

7. MRSA – Methicillin-resistant S. aureus
It has evolved, and continues to do so
Requires strong antibiotics like vancomycin = IV only!
Almost always spread through direct physical contact
often in hospitals

8. How do bacteria become resistant?
How do antibiotics work?
Stop or interfere the cellular processes that bacteria depend on to survive:
Crippling the production of the bacterial cell wall.
Interfering with protein synthesis
Blocking the synthesis (production or making) of DNA and RNA.
Bacteria come up with ways to counter or fight these actions of the antibiotics:
Changing the permeability of its cell membrane and therefore the antibiotic cannot be taken up by the cell at all.
2. Changing molecules inside themselves and in doing so ‘confusing’ the
antibiotic so the antibiotic misses the ‘target’.
3. Destroying the antibiotic. Some bacteria produce enzymes that chew up penicillin.

9. Non-drug resistant bacteria can get or acquire resistance by getting a copy of a gene that fights antibiotics from another drug resistant bacteria!
The result….

10. What led to antibiotic resistance?
Overuse of antibiotics…

11. SUPERBUG - VRSA VRSA – Vancomycin-resistant S. aureus
What is next? Can we keep up?

13. The other factor here is, as a society, becoming aware and not overprescribing antibiotics. Also, not prescribing too many combination antibiotics. Good Luck!!!