ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
· Antimicrobial
resistance happens when microorganisms change when they are exposed to
antimicrobial drugs. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are
sometimes referred to as “Superbugs”.
· Antimicrobial
resistance happens when microorganisms develop the ability to defeat the drugs
designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to
grow.
· Among the major
challenges facing microbiologists today are the problems presented by pathogens
that are resistant to antimicrobial agents.
· As a result of
Antimicrobial resistance, the medicines become ineffective and infections
persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
·
New resistance
mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to
treat common infectious diseases, resulting in prolonged illness, disability,
and death.
·
Not all
pathogens are equally sensitive to a given therapeutic agent; a population may
contain a few organisms that are naturally either partially or completely
resistant.
·
Among bacteria,
individual cells can acquire such resistance in two ways:
(i)
Through new
mutations of chromosomal genes.
(ii) By acquiring resistance genes on extrachromosomal
pieces of DNA called R plasmids.
Mechanism of Antimicrobial
Resistance
·
There are Six
mechanisms of Antimicrobial resistance.
(i) Resistant cells may produce an enzyme that destroys or
deactivates the drug. The Beta (β)-lactamases
(penicillinases), which are enzymes that break the beta-lactam rings of
Penicillin.
(ii) Resistant microbes may slow or prevent the entry of
the Antibiotics into the cell.
(iii) Resistant cells may alter the target of the drug so
that the drug either cannot attach to it or binds it less effectively.
(iv) Resistant cells may alter their metabolic chemistry.
(v) Resistant cells may pump the antimicrobial out of the
cell before the drug can act.
(vi) Bacteria within biofilms resist antimicrobials more
effectively than free-living cells.
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