Antibiotics Overuse and Bacterial Resistance

Abstract

Antibiotic usage has become very widespread, as they are used to treat so many infectious diseases today. Antimicrobial agents exert their actions via different mechanisms including blockage of cell wall synthesis, interference of protein and/ or nucleic acid synthesis, interruption of cell membrane structure, and inhibition of a metabolic pathway. The treatment of bacterial infections with antimicrobial agents has become more difficult due to the capability of bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics. Erroneous diagnosing, misconceptions, and improper physician-patient dynamics have led to overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Bacterial colonies have been shown to confer advantageous genetic information with ease, which is cause for concern. This, in turn, leads to a heightened urgency to create new forms of treatment that are effective against a greater proportion of a given bacterial colony. Effective ways of decreasing resistance include better diagnostic techniques, proper education and assessments, optimization of antibiotics usage, drug synergism, vaccine implementation, global efforts to combat resistance, and development of new antimicrobial agents.

Community antibiotic consumption and associated factors in Lusaka district of Zambia: findings and implications for antimicrobial resistance and stewardship

“…AMR is an inevitable natural phenomenon but accelerated by the high consumption and misuse of antimicrobials. 21 , 22 This may happen through antimicrobial overprescribing or underprescribing by prescribers, empirical treatment, self-medication and purchasing drugs without a legal prescription. 10 , 23–27 Some determinants affect the choice and attitude towards antimicrobial use (AMU).…”

Advances in Discoveries of Plant Phytochemicals

“…Due to the inappropriate and excessive use of antimicrobial medications, microbes have become resistant to many antibiotics, which poses a significant challenge for the treatment of infectious illnesses (Davies, 1994;McGregor et al, 2014;Saleem et al, 2019;Thompson, 2022). Antibiotic resistance occurs due to the constant generation of resistant strains to drugs and the adaptation of microorganisms to frequently used antibiotics (Ventola, 2015;Aslam et al, 2018;Saleem et al, 2019). Lately, the interest in medicinal plants has increased because of the great potential of plantbased medicines.…”

Insight into the phytochemical profile and antimicrobial activities of Amomum subulatum and Amomum xanthioides: an in vitro and in silico study

“…Natural antimicrobials found in medicinal plants are highly effective against newly emerging microbial strains ( Cowan, 1999 ; Tijjani et al., 2011 ). Due to the inappropriate and excessive use of antimicrobial medications, microbes have become resistant to many antibiotics, which poses a significant challenge for the treatment of infectious illnesses ( Davies, 1994 ; McGregor et al., 2014 ; Saleem et al., 2019 ; Thompson, 2022 ). Antibiotic resistance occurs due to the constant generation of resistant strains to drugs and the adaptation of microorganisms to frequently used antibiotics ( Ventola, 2015 ; Aslam et al., 2018 ; Saleem et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Due to the inappropriate and excessive use of antimicrobial medications, microbes have become resistant to many antibiotics, which poses a significant challenge for the treatment of infectious illnesses ( Davies, 1994 ; McGregor et al., 2014 ; Saleem et al., 2019 ; Thompson, 2022 ). Antibiotic resistance occurs due to the constant generation of resistant strains to drugs and the adaptation of microorganisms to frequently used antibiotics ( Ventola, 2015 ; Aslam et al., 2018 ; Saleem et al., 2019 ). Lately, the interest in medicinal plants has increased because of the great potential of plant-based medicines.…”