Superbugs are antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that are difficult to fight. They are often found in hospitals and can cause serious infections. Overuse of antibiotics has caused many strains to develop, and some may become virtually incurable. Doctors need to identify the type of superbug and the antibiotics it is resistant to in order to effectively treat it.
A superbug, also called a superbug, is a common name for antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. The definition is more refined and means that the bacterial strain in question is resistant to more than one type of antibiotic. This makes these “bugs”, which are often more present in hospitals where they can prey on those more vulnerable to infection, difficult to fight. The development of new types of super bugs or the mutation of already known ones is of great inconvenience to disease specialists. There is concern that some strains may develop so much resistance to antibiotics that they become virtually incurable.
Bacteria are living organisms and have the ability to mutate and change in order to survive. Because they are subject to this evolutionary process, like all other living things, when antibiotics attack them, they can develop ways to fight them over time. Bacteria that survive one antibiotic treatment produce new bacteria that may possess the genetic structure to survive further antibiotic treatment. Thus a new strain of bacteria can be born and pass on to other living organisms.
Many different types of bacteria are not easily destroyed by one specific antibiotic. This is usually not problematic because there are many other antibiotic treatments that can be employed to kill a bacterial strain. Most types of super bugs are resistant to several antibiotics and may develop further resistance in the future. This poses huge problems for human and animal health, and some disease specialists describe current antibiotic research and drug development as a race to create new drugs that will treat evolving superbugs.
Many of the existing superbugs are known to have been caused primarily by overuse of antibiotics. Prescribing antibiotics to treat viruses instead of actually determining that a person has an infection gives common bacteria an opportunity to mutate and grow stronger. This has led to a significant shift in the medical community on this issue and most doctors are now hesitant to use antibiotics unless there is clear evidence of infection. Many disease specialists also advocate reducing the use of antibiotics in meat farming, as this could develop new strains of super bugs.
Unfortunately, there are already some forms of super bugs that pose problems. One of the best known is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which until recently was primarily noted in hospital and other medical settings. MRSA can cause serious external and internal infections that require specific antibiotic treatment. Other strains of MRSA are now found in many communities.
When treating a superbug, doctors need to be able to identify it and know the type of antibiotics it is resistant to. This typically means culturing areas of infection to identify the bacterial strain. Culturing takes time, can delay effective treatment, and there is always the possibility that further mutation of the strain has occurred, making existing recommended treatments ineffective.
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