User:Hagan2/Antimicrobial resistance

Causes

Although many microbes develop resistance to antibiotics over time though natural mutation, overprescription and wrongful prescription of antibiotics have accelerated the process greatly. It is possible that as many as 1 in 3 prescriptions written for antibiotics are unnecessary. Antibiotics have been a powerful tool in fighting infection since they were discovered, but the overprescription of these lifesaving drugs has led to a rise in resistance to them. Every year, approximately 154 Million prescriptions for antibiotics are written by physicians. Of this number, up to 46 million are unnecessary or inappropriate for the condition that the patient has. Microbes may naturally develop resistance through genetic mutations that occur during cell division, and although random mutations are rare, many microbes divide frequently and rapidly, increasing the chances of members of the population having a mutation that increases resistance. The increase in antibiotic prescriptions has expedited the process of microbes to become resistant, as many patients stop taking antibiotics when they begin to feel better. When this occurs, it is possible that the microbes that are less susceptible to treatment still remain in the body. If these microbes are able to continue to divide, it can lead to an infection that is less susceptible or even resistant to an antibiotic.