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How might individual bacterium become resistant to an antibiotic?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
it inherited the allele that made it resistant
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agomutations in the cells of the bacteria (the pathogens)
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Why a few bacterial colonies growing within the zone of inhibition?
bc the adapt to the new environment and become resistant to antibiotic
What bacteria is called superbug infection?
diptheria There are an extremely large amount of diseases caused by bacteria, but fortunately bacterial diseases are easily cured with antibiotics, whereas viral diseases cannot be cured (only the symptoms can be treated) and must run there coarse.
Why are some bacteria resistant to antibiotic drugs?
Bacteria can become resistant by many means. Antibiotics can affect several different parts of a bacterium such as cell wall synthesis (the penicillins affect this) or protein synthesis and several others. If for example an antibiotic affects cell wall synthesis by inhibiting an enzyme then if the bacteria mutates to overproduce that enzyme then it becomes resistant to that antibiotic at therapeutic concentrations. Or the bacteria could mutate so it does not need that exact enzyme any more and the antibiotic becomes useless. Some of the dangerous pathogens like methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have acquired resistance to several antibiotics by selective mutation (otherwise known as evolution). Some bacteria are not so good at mutating or are less dangerous as pathogens so they cannot acquire resistance at all or as quickly.Other bacteria can produce spores which are very tough capsules which contain all the genes of a bacterial species but are not viable cells, the spores are highly resistant to antibiotics because they are very thick and do not carry out normal cellular functions so they are not affected by antibiotics. Anthrax and Clostridium dificille can form spores.Some bacteria like Listeria and in some cases Staphylococcus aureus can get inside the human cell like a virus and become resistant to the immune system and also to drugs because it is harder for drugs to get inside a human cell.
How has the species of bacteria become resistant?
In a large population of bacteria, there may be some cells that are not affected by the antibiotic. These cells survive and reproduce, producing even more bacteria that are not affected by the antibiotic.
How contagious is carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or CRE infection?
The infections do not become more or less contagious by resistance to antibiotics. Only thing becomes difficult is how to treat the disease. You kill a person and that person is dead. You kill an antibiotic and millions are dead.
How is antibiotic resistance observed in bacteria in light of Darwinian selection theory?
A random mutation causes one bacterium to become resistant to an antibiotic. Then all the others are killed when the antibiotic is introduced to the environment. The mutated bacterium is free to reproduce and soon many members of that species are resistant to that antibiotic.
What are some problems that arise when a bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic?
The antibiotic resistance may be transferred to a virulent pathogenic bacterium. Then we will not be able to cure the infection.
Why a few bacterial colonies growing within the zone of inhibition?
bc the adapt to the new environment and become resistant to antibiotic
How can taking antibiotics negatively affect your digestive health?
If antibiotics are overused or used incorrectly there is a chance that the bacteria will become resistant - the antibiotic becomes less effective against that type of bacterium. In most countries outside the U.S. antibiotics are rarely given they are seen as having life long side affects.
What is VRE?
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus - Enterococcibacteria are normally found in the intestinal tract. They can sometimes become pathogenic and develop resistance to vancomycin. (Vancomycin is a last-resort antibiotic that is administered for infections that are resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics.)
Can antibiotics cause resistance in bacteria?
A simple way to explain it is:When you have an infection and take antibiotics for it, the weaker bacteria are killed first, with the stronger ones surviving, or taking longer to destroy. So when you don't take the full round of antibiotics, the stronger bacteria are the ones left in your body, and they are the ones that will continue to multiply, resulting in a bacteria resistant to the antibiotic. This is why you should always take the full prescribed course of antibiotics.Also, when antibiotics are prescribed, the body's natural defense system (the good bacteria) are destroyed along with the bad bacteria. This is why you should always eat yogurt with active cultures or drink buttermilk while on antibiotics - the active cultures put the "good" bacteria back in the body.
Why is the overuse of antibiotics a problem?
It exposes too many organisms to antibiotics, and exposing them too frequently. This results in the opportunity for the organisms to become resistant to the antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming a more and more serious public health threat.
Is antibiotic resistance proof of evolution?
You have a population of bacteria that are all variant, morphologically and, rather redundantly, genetically. The antibiotic is applied and some of these bacteria are resistant ( this is simplistic, but valid ) and survive to reproduce. They have been naturally selected and their alleles, which conferred their resistance, are represented in the next generation of bacteria. This is evolution; the change in allele frequency over time in a population of organisms.
Why should you not use penicillin to cure a cold?
you should not use penicillin to cure a cold because penicillin is an antibiotic and your body could build a resistant up to it and when you really do become sick you will not be able to use penicillin to cure and actual infection. Also if you are prescribed an antibiotic and you do not take the whole amount prescribed you could still carry the infection dormit in your body and your illness could return resistant to the antibiotic that was prescribed.
What is mersa infection?
MERSA and MRSA are the same bacteria, Staph Aureous. When then become resistant to a certain antibiotic called methicillin they then get the designation of methicillin resistant Staph Aureous. The difficulty in treating this super bug is that is is resistant to many, but not all antibiotics.MSRA is a contagious disease that is a strain of bacterial staph infection.
What bacteria is called superbug infection?
diptheria There are an extremely large amount of diseases caused by bacteria, but fortunately bacterial diseases are easily cured with antibiotics, whereas viral diseases cannot be cured (only the symptoms can be treated) and must run there coarse.
What would happen if you didn't finish a course of antibiotics?
If you stop taking your antibiotic before you complete the course any surviving bacteria developes an immunity to that antibiotic. You must then take a different, usually stronger antibiotic to kill the infection. Once that happens that particular antibiotic usually will not work for any bacterial infection you may get.
