What is the evolution of antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance is a consequence of evolution via natural selection. The antibiotic action is an environmental pressure; those bacteria which have a mutation allowing them to survive will live on to reproduce. They will then pass this trait to their offspring, which will be a fully resistant generation.
Why didn’t the antibiotics work for Addie?
Addie’s doctors had run out of the most common antibiotics used to treat these serious bacteria so, in desperation, they turned to an antibiotic known as colistin. Colistin is very powerful, but it is also so highly toxic to the kidneys and other organs that doctors rarely use it.
How do bacteria become resistant to ciprofloxacin?
Ciprofloxacin-resistant bacterial infections have been mainly associated with chromosomal mutations that alters DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, upregulation of the expression of native efflux pumps, alteration of the amount or porins types and transference of resistance genes by plasmids 43 , 44 .
When did Staphylococcus aureus become resistant to antibiotic drugs?
Emergence of antibiotic resistance by S. aureus can be visualized as a series of waves (Figure 1). The first wave began in the mid-1940s as the proportion of infections caused by penicillin-resistant S. aureus rose in hospitals 34, 35.
When was the first antibiotic resistance discovered?
Clinical antimicrobial resistance was first reported four years before Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928. The antimicrobial in question was known as Salvarsan (S. Silberstein Arch. Derm.
Why is the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria happening so quickly?
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.
How did this little girl Addie get so sick?
Addie Rerecich was only 11 years old when she was hospitalized with MRSA, an infection her doctor said she likely caught by picking at a scab — like so many kids do. While in the hospital, she contracted an untreatable form of the bacteria stenotrophomonas that nearly took her life.
Did Addie get a lung transplant?
Addison “Addie” Rerecich (October 1, 1999 -December 30, 2019) was an American double-lung transplant recipient who spent the longest documented duration of time using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy at 93 days She underwent the transplant at age 11 in 2011 and was the subject of a 2013 episode of …
What is mechanism of resistance for ciprofloxacin?
Ciprofloxacin resistance can arise through the acquisition of mutations in genes encoding the target proteins of ciprofloxacin and regulators of efflux pumps, which leads to overexpression of these pumps. However, understanding of the basis of ciprofloxacin resistance is not yet complete.
Is there a resistance gene that allows bacteria to become resistant to ciprofloxacin?
Ciprofloxacin resistance may also be transferred on DNA among bacteria of the same or different genus or species. This transfer is often via plasmids encoding resistance to several different antibiotics. One plasmid-encoded fluoroquinolone resistance gene is qnr, which encodes a protein that mimics B-form DNA.
How did staph become resistant to methicillin?
S. aureus can become resistant to methicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics through the expression of a foreign PBP, PBP2a, that is resistant to the action of methicillin but which can perform the functions of the host PBPs.
How long did Staphylococcus aureus populations develop antibiotic resistance to methicillin?
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was first observed in 1960, less than one year after the introduction of this second generation beta-lactam antibiotic into clinical practice.