How has antibiotic resistance come to be such a serious issue in the world today?
The development and continuing severity of antibiotic resistance has been perpetuated through the over-prescription, the widespread use, and the lack of dose completion of antibiotics [9]. All of these may cause bacteria to undergo a process called ‘selection’ [9]. This is where an antibiotic would initially kill the less fit bacteria, and not finishing one’s antibiotic dose would ‘select for’ or allow the really ‘strong’ and persistent remaining bacteria (those few who may be a little more resistant and need longer to die) to survive and multiply [9] [14]. Their progeny will demonstrate identical resistance qualities, and any additional changes to their genes could result in a few being even more resistant to the antibiotic [9]. Thus, this process goes on. Also, since prescribing antibiotics for viral infections has no effect on viruses, this just means that any traces of antibiotics taken would get released into the environment, where it may encounter infectious bacteria and repeat t
