Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality.M

Antibiotic resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to grow. Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant germs are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to treat.E

Bacteria can evolve quickly because they reproduce at a fast rate. Mutations in the DNA of bacteria can produce new characteristics. A random mutation might cause some bacteria to become resistant to certain antibiotics , such as penicillin.

Failing to complete the course Some patients begin to feel well after a few days of taking the medicine, and stop taking them. This is potentially very harmful, as random mutations can occur which can lead to antibiotic resistance . The resistant bacteria reproduce quickly, and the resistance spreads.

Public Health England ( PHE )’s latest English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance ( ESPAUR ) report shows that there were an estimated 61,000 antibiotic resistant infections in England during 2018 – a 9% rise from 2017.

Antibiotics are substances that slow down or stop the growth of bacteria . They are commonly prescribed medicines, examples include penicillin and amoxicillin. These can be taken to cure the diseases by killing the pathogens , but only cure bacterial diseases and not viral ones.

The number of strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has increased, partly due to the misuse of antibiotics. This has led to more infections that are difficult to control, particularly in hospitals.

7 of the deadliest superbugs

• Klebsiella pneumoniae. Approximately 3-5% of the population carry Klebsiella pneumoniae.
• Candida auris.
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
• Neisseria gonorrhea.
• Salmonellae.
• Acinetobacter baumannii.
• Drug resistant tuberculosis.

Bacteria develop resistance mechanisms by using instructions provided by their DNA. Often, resistance genes are found within plasmids, small pieces of DNA that carry genetic instructions from one germ to another. This means that some bacteria can share their DNA and make other germs become resistant.B

Over time, bacteria can become resistant to certain antibiotics (such as penicillin). This is an example of natural selection. In a large population of bacteria, there may be some that are not affected by an antibiotic.

Patients who are infected with antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria should be isolated from other patients. The development of new antibiotics stopped years ago, as they were hailed as the solution to a very difficult disease control problem. Some limited success with new antibiotic search has occurred recently.

Antibiotic resistance Bacteria can evolve quickly because they reproduce at a fast rate. Mutations of bacteria produce new strains. Some bacteria might become resistant to certain antibiotics, such as penicillin, and cannot be destroyed by the antibiotic.

Recent concerns of increasing resistance have created the need for new antibiotics, but they are costly and very slow to develop. Some scientists fear that we are fighting a losing battle against resistant bacteria, which may ultimately lead to people dying from simple infections, for example following operations.

The ions in copper alloys are both antiviral and antibacterial, able to kill over 99.9% of bacteria within two hours. Copper is even more effective than silver, which requires moisture to activate its antimicrobial properties. “Copper is the top surface to use because it has been used by mankind for three millennia,” says Larrouy-Maumus.