• Question: What are your views on antibiotic resistance, such as in the case of MRSA?

    Asked by 05braceye to Wei, Rebecca on 14 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rebecca Handley

      Rebecca Handley answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hiya! I once wrote a newspaper article on this. I think MRSA is totally our own fault. MRSA is a type of bacteria that is no longer killed by antibiotics. It happened because antibiotics were used too frequently for infections that didn’t need them. Lots of scientists now believe that antibiotics need to be replaced by a new way of fighting bacterial infections.

    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Let’s not forget, that bacteria are little evolving survival machines! They have existed loooooong before mammals including humans, plus they have such short lifespans, they can out evolve us without even breaking into a sweat!

      Before humans, many other organisms (fungi, plants) have evolved to produce antibiotics to deal with bacteria, so as a result, bacteria also become good at developing resistance, this applies for man-made drugs too.

      The over-use of antibiotics undoubtedly played a part in MRSA’s evolution, but it can also happen by accident, though much much slower. I think now we need to find another way to treat these resistant strains, as standard drugs are not working.

Comments

  • Photo: 05braceye

    05braceye commented on :

    Thanks, so do you think that in the future, society is going to have more issues with antibiotic resistance, if overuse of current antibiotics is continued? If so, do you think that there is anything that could be done now to prevent this?