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¶ … Lab Report Template (Save as: YourName_Module#_Report.doc) Antibiotics were once called 'wonder drugs' because of their ability to fight some of the most serious diseases plaguing humankind. However, just as other species have changed through natural selection, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics have survived and reproduced in greater number than less resistant strains. Slower development of new antibiotics and a spike in antibiotic prescriptions has precipitated the evolution of hardier and more virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (2005) antibiotic-resistant bacteria develop when mutant strains of resistant bacteria survive a treatment, and "that one bacterium can then multiply and replace all the bacteria that were killed off. Exposure to antibiotics therefore provides selective pressure, which makes the surviving bacteria more likely to be resistant.

In addition, bacteria that were at one time susceptible to an antibiotic can acquire resistance through mutation of their genetic material or by acquiring pieces of DNA that code for the resistance properties from other bacteria." Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are dangerous because these "bacteria are able to cause serious disease and this is a major public health problem.

Important examples are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and multi-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB)," which have become epidemic in many healthcare environments when large numbers of ill people are in contact with one another ("Antibiotic-resistant bacteria," Better Health Channel. 2009). Unless proper precautions are taken, patients and healthcare providers alike can become unwitting transmitters of diseases. Patients and doctors both share some of the blame for the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Doctors may prescribe an antibiotic for what is likely to be a viral infection (which cannot be cure by an antibiotic) to placate a demanding patient, and patients may want to take an antibiotic, even when it is likely to be ineffective 'just in case' they might have a bacterial infection. Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted on a 'macro' population level as well as a micro population level.

To confirm that strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria were indeed on the rise, the experiment tracked the number of classes of antibiotics that had been developed since the birth of modern antibiotics in the 1930s. Specific data was then tabulated to determine the increase of bacteria resistant to specific, common types of antibiotics, like penicillin and erythromycin.

However, to determine the most effective method of coping with disease resistance, the experiment then reviewed the methods of a study in Finland that examined the effects of consciously cutting back on erythromycin prescriptions, which seemed to result in a precipitous drop in disease resistant-bacteria, versus previous studies of antibiotic rotation, which a study of a hospital population indicated was fairly ineffectual. Results: The number of new antibiotics developed by researchers has slowed dramatically since the 1960s. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become more prevalent.

Antibiotic 'rationing' seems to be the most effective way in the short run to contain the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Discussion: As fewer types of antibiotics are developed, and more individuals are prescribed and use antibiotics, the chance of developing antibiotic-resistant bacteria increases. The suggested remedy for this problem is two-fold. First, over-prescription of antibiotics must be reduced. No longer should doctors respond to calls.