Somos FCC - Nº5

Antibiotic resistance: a problem for Resistance to antibiotics is a se- rious health problem that is worse- ning year after year, despite the in- formation and awareness campaign that has been carried out by health authorities and various social orga- nizations. It is estimated that seven hundred thousand people die every year from this problem and if the trend does not change, there will be ten million victims per year by 2050, according to the World Heal- th Organization (WHO). We are tal- king about an epidemic that will kill more people than cancer, if we do not remedy it. It is, therefore, a social problem and, in relation to our country, a cultural one. The widespread and deep-rooted practice of self-medi- cation without resorting to the ad- vice of a health professional and of treating a child with antibiotics “as soon as he or she has mucus”, in addition to the social pressure exerted on doctors, mean that this problem is perpetuated, without a short-term solution in sight. It is difficult to change the popular per- ception that patients are better pro- tected with antibiotics. Nor can we underestimate the use and abuse of antibiotic treatment for livestock and animals intended for human consumption, whose meat is part of the food chain. The- se antibiotics significantly increase the resistance to antibiotics of tho- se who consume this meat. There- fore, the incorrect use of antibiotics by humans and misuse in animals, are the two main causes of antibio- tics resistance. Consequently, we are facing a serious problem, which until recently, the population was not aware of or did not consider im- portant. What are the effects of inadequa- te use of antibiotics? Treating a viral process, usually res- piratory at this time of year, with an antibiotic is of no use and subjects the patient to unnecessary risks (allergic reactions, diarrhoea and other adverse effects). In addition, the ecological impact on the respi- ratory and intestinal flora is conside- rable, as the antibiotic will eliminate the majority of sensitive bacteria and will favour the growth of the re- sistant bacterial population and its possible subsequent dissemination. Bacteria also have some biological characteristics that make it easier for them to acquire resistance: a. First of all, they have a high dou- bling speed and can double their po- pulation in thirty minutes in suitable culture media. This leads to a high rate of spontaneous mutations that favour the appearance of resistan- ce: if, due to chance, one of these mutations allows them to survive in the presence of an antibiotic, the same selective pressure from it (it kills all the sensitive bacteria) will favour the appearance of a resistant population. b. Resistance derived from the ac- quisition of foreign genetic material from the bacterium that confers some capacity that allows it to sur- vive the antibiotic, as in the case of plasmids, extrachromosomal DNA molecules that replicate and trans- mit independent of chromosomal DNA. The number can vary from a single copy to several hundred per cell. In general, they do not confer essential information but confer advantages to the host. The most common example is plasmids con- taining antibiotic resistance genes. Doctor Román Rodríguez Barriguete Medical Services Madrid W E L L N E S S W E L L N E S S 48