What is causing increases in antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

Increases in antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains are due primarily to the evolution and adaptation of bacteria in response to repeated exposure to antibiotics. A large contributing factor to this is the overprescription of antibiotics among medical professionals, which leads to a hastened process of selection and mutation of strains of bacteria which are resistant to the antibiotics being used against them. This can result in bacteria which are entirely unresponsive to antibiotics in many cases, rendering this form of treatment and medication useless against such “superbugs.”

It must be noted that the overuse of antibiotics is not the direct or sole cause of antibiotic resistance; rather, antibiotic-resistant strains have always existed among bacteria, and the overprescription and irresponsible use of antibiotics in the modern day only contributes to the high frequency and current ubiquity of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.

The looming threat of antibacterial resistance and superbugs could mean the end of antibiotics as an effective treatment method, a major issue which could prove disastrous for the modern medical world. Antimicrobial resistance is already a deadly problem worldwide, with about 23,000 deaths in the US and 25,000 in Europe caused each year by resistance to antimicrobials.