Question

In patients with antibiotic susceptible strains of the bacterium causing tuberculosis, the symptoms of the condition are then relieved several weeks. However, the time to eliminate the infection is much longer, causing patients to discontinue treatment. Explain how this situation can cause resistance of the bacteria to antibiotics.

Answer 1

Antibiotics are chemicals that inhibit the growth of micro-organisms particularly bacteria. Antibiotics are usually prescribed for one or two weeks, however, some chronic diseases require use of antibiotics for longer period of time. The side effect of long term antibiotic use is the development of resistance by bacteria against the drug in a way that later is no longer able to inhibit the growth of former. This reduces the effectiveness of the antibiotic against the infection. The bacteria can achieve antibiotic resistance by three possible mechanisms:

• There is alteration of bacterial protein that is targets for antibiotic.
• There is change in the membrane permeability to antibiotic
• Bacteria can cause enzymatic degradation of the drug.