In the modern world, the threat of diseases has been almost entirely vanquished. Due to the rapid development of the medical industry and pharmaceuticals, there are cures to treat most of these diseases. However, as we use more antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, the bacteria become more resistant, which may lead to a time where antibiotics fail to stop these infections.
Table of Contents:
Penicillin
Resistance
Conclusion
Penicillin
Antibiotics are commonplace in the modern world, but this was not always the case. In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician, left a bunch of Petri dishes which were culturing bacteria on his desk and went away on a holiday. When he came back, he noticed that there was mold growing on some of the dishes and that there were no bacteria where the mold was growing. He realized that the mold was secreting a juice that killed all gram-positive bacteria (a large group of bacteria that have a thick cell wall and are deadly). This “juice” was later named penicillin and was used widely in World War II to reduce mortality rates from infected wounds. Fleming later won the Nobel Peace Prize for his discovery and it paved the way for modern antibiotics.
Alexander Fleming receiving the Nobel Prize
Resistance
While antibiotics continue to work now, many bacteria are starting to become resistant to them. Before, when one antibiotic became obsolete, another was there to take its place. This is not true anymore. Some bacteria are now resistant to many of these antibiotics, becoming “superbugs”. The World Health Organization has said that antibiotic resistance is one of the largest threats to health and food security. The best way to reduce the impact of this resistance is to use the current medicine sparingly. Currently, some antibiotics are taken unnecessarily, leading to an increase in bacterial resistance. Reducing that amount decreases the exposure the bacteria have to the antibiotics, slowing down the rate of resistance.
A penicillin antibiotic
Conclusion
Antibiotics are killing deadly bacteria but most antibiotics may soon become futile. As humans use more of them, the pathogens and germs start to develop immunities and resistance to them. This can lead to the prescript medicine becoming ineffective. The best way to stop such a dire situation from occurring is to only use antibiotics when necessary.
