Why there is ineffectiveness to the use of antibiotics
As antibiotics try to fight the existence of harmful microbial infections, their activity diminishes due to various reasons. The antibiotics target bacterial infections that are disease-causing. There are multiple theories that have been proved while others are being worked on to explain why some medicines are ineffective. The following are three hypotheses that describe the ineffectiveness of antibiotics.
Charles Darwin, one of the key figures of evolution theory, stated that there is mutation; The process by which a living organism adapts to the changes in the environment to ensure there is survival. Such a postulate plays a vital role in explaining the ineffectiveness of some of the antibiotics. The disease-causing organisms mutate and become resistant to their antidote.
Also, another factor that has contributed to the ineffectiveness of antibiotics is horizontal gene transfer. The process of gene acquisition by disease-causing organisms has led to the growth in resistance. The genetic exchange in the acquisition of foreign deoxyribonucleic acid material is a robust source of antibiotic resistance genes. Bacteria usually acquire external genes through the process of transformation, transduction, and conjugation, depending on the environment.
The overuse of antibiotics is another contributor to the development of ineffectiveness. People have started misusing antibiotics attributing any infection to the use of antibiotics as a remedy. These antibiotics do not affect the virus, but also medical practitioners give them the cure of common cold and flu. The medical practitioner may be playing a psychological approach to treatment, but the side effect is the ineffectiveness of the antibiotic.
In conclusion, the hypotheses put to explain why there is ineffectiveness to the use of antibiotics have explained mainly some of the various questions in the medical industry. The issue of mutation, gene transfer, and overuse of the drugs have played a role in an ineffective antibiotic.