Medications that clinicians have been prescribing may not be the best solution for curing bacterial infections, according to some medical researchers.
Though antibacterial medications are widely used, their intended use and consequences may have a negative effect because some researchers believe that bacteria are slowly developing resistance to such products.
Since 2005, more people have died of antimicrobial resistance than AIDS in the U.S., said Jeffrey H. Miller, a microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics professor.
“I’m sure that the numbers increased. … We need to be much more careful in how and when we use antibiotics,” he said.
Bacteria may not possess resistance immediately, but it can be developed with the passing of genes.
One of the causes of antimicrobial resistance is that many medications do not kill all bacteria. Surviving bacteria could quickly transfer their resistant genes to neighboring bacteria in a patient’s body as the bacteria multiply, said Ann Brooks, a nurse practitioner, nurse manager and women’s health nurse at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center.
“If you keep taking antibiotics, you can eventually convert the bacteria to resistant forms,” Miller said.
Medical professionals at UCLA said antimicrobial resistance is an issue among patients who take medications, even in hospitals.
“Some people go into the hospital and become more sick when they get there because they pick up infections that they haven’t had going yet. … The hospital becomes a source of infection sometimes,” Brooks said.
Seventy percent of bacteria-causing infections in hospitals are resistant to at least one of the drugs offered, said Anne Liu, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student who is currently researching antimicrobial resistance.
Physicians’ misdiagnoses also contribute to antimicrobial resistance.
Many patients, whether they are infected with bacteria or not, pressure their doctors to prescribe them with unnecessary medications, Liu said.
Patients might take antibiotics when they think they have a bacterial infection but actually have a viral disease; in this case, antibiotics will not work, Miller said.
Misuse and abuse of antibiotics can also occur as a result of misdiagnosis.
Many patients mistake the flu for a bacterial infection, and this usually occurs during flu season, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ranges from about November through March.
The flu is caused by the influenza virus, not bacteria. Some people are afraid of getting sick during this time of the year, so they take antibiotics, despite being healthy, Miller said.
But this can build more antimicrobial resistance.
“Don’t just scarf down antibiotics when it’s flu season. … You’re doing something very serious to your body,” Miller said.
Brooks said she believes there might be a solution to antimicrobial resistance one day.
If research toward antimicrobial resistance gets plenty of funding, then there is hope that this will no longer be an issue, she said.
According to Liu’s research, combinations of drugs that work together may counteract antimicrobial resistance; one drug could be a normal one while the other one acts as an inhibitor, targeting genes.
For now, UCLA experts said people should be cautious when using antibiotics.
“If you continuously abuse antibiotics, you can potentially set yourself up with very nasty situations,” Miller said.