In the presence of antibiotic resistance, an antibiotic is ineffective against a bacterial infectious agent. On the one hand, this may be due to natural resistance, but on the other hand, it may also be acquired resistance. For bacteria, acquiring such resistance properties is part of the struggle for survival. Therefore, the widespread use of antibiotics by humans also leads to an increasing occurrence of corresponding resistance in bacteria.
Forms of antibiotic resistance
The following forms of antibiotic resistance exist:
- Production of proteins that disable antibiotics.
- Alteration of cell wall structure so that antibiotics can no longer penetrate.
- Transport of the penetrated antibiotics out of the cell.
- “Reprogramming” of the antibiotics.
Here, the development of resistance is strongly dependent on which bacterium meets which antibiotic. The angina and scarlet fever pathogen, for example (Streptococcus pyogenes) is still not resistant to penicillin, while various Staphylococcus species, on the other hand, have become completely resistant to penicillin within ten years.
Consequences of antibiotic resistance
In the worst cases, the emergence of antibiotic resistance can cause a patient to die from a normally harmless infection. In this regard, infectious diseases brought in by long-distance travelers are often particularly problematic, as antibiotic resistance is on the rise in these countries.
Spain and France in particular, as well as many other southern and also eastern European countries, now harbor a high rate of antibiotic resistance in certain bacteria, particularly to penicillins and to the antibiotic group of macrolides.
Treatments with antibiotics
Comparative country studies show that the number of resistant bacteria varies significantly depending on the frequency and type of prescription of an antibiotic. Physicians should take this into account and not prescribe an antibiotic too lightly. In Germany, a study found that in 50 to 70 percent of the cases investigated, antibiotics were used incorrectly in terms of selection, dosage or treatment duration.
This can happen due to lack of qualification, but also due to a physician’s false therapeutic need for safety, and it is made easy by the wide availability of antibiotics with relatively few side effects. However, only those who use antibiotics rationally can avoid resistance that leads to expensive, complicated, and risky therapies.
Tips to protect against bacteria:
- Boil water when traveling, as most bacteria die at temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius.
- In case of illness, do not develop the expectation of necessarily prescribed an antibiotic.
- Do not independently change the dosage of an antibiotic or extend therapy on your own authority, and do not use opened packages when “needed”.
- Do not shorten the therapy with an antibiotic independently. One can in no way assume that all pathogens are already defeated when free of symptoms. The last remaining bacteria can multiply again, and there may be a new infection, against which only the use of a more potent antibiotic helps.
- Equally, one should not interrupt the therapy with an antibiotic arbitrarily. This can otherwise lead to the fact that the remaining pathogens multiply again, which can lead to a usually even worse relapse. In addition, there is a risk that after a “break in therapy” the remaining germs have developed strategies for survival, that is, resistance, through which the antibiotic becomes ineffective.
- If there is a fear of having been infected on vacation, should immediately visit a family doctor and describe the situation to him.
