How does a bacteria become antibiotic-resistant?
Bacteria are under tremendous pressure to survive. If there are a whole bunch of bacteria growing in a certain location where antibiotics are present, the only bacteria that will survive are the ones that are resistant to that antibiotic. So the presence of antibiotics in fact encourages resistance, and the bacteria that are resistant then grow and proliferate. Incomplete treatment can also cause antibiotic resistance as well. If a person does not finish a course of antibiotics, this can increase the chances of future resistance. Are there certain prescription behaviors that speed bacterial resistance to antibiotics? We know from various studies that the more antibiotics we use, the more drug resistance we will see. What are the dangers of over-prescribing antibiotics? There aren’t very many new antibiotics being generated by pharmaceutical companies and by research laboratories, so in the near future we really have to rely on the antibiotics that we already have. If we misuse and over
