According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not
killed and continue to grow. In this situation infection continuously grows and it’s very difficult to stop. And create challenges for the treatment. Hence to prevent and control the spread of antibiotic resistance, individuals can:
• Only use those antibiotics that are prescribed by a certified health professional.
• Never overdose the antibiotics.
• Strictly follow the advice of health professionals when using antibiotics.
Hence one should keep in mind that heavy use of hand sanitizers might lead to the antimicrobialresistance.Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antiprotozoal, antiviral and antifungal medicines, which are important for our health as they fight against infections, and help in improving the immune system. But
the bacteria can change or mutate after being exposed to an antimicrobial, develop resistance. Which will able to withstand the medicines designed to kill them? Therefore the use and misuse of antibiotics increase the resistant strains of bacteria that will make life-threatening. The same will happen in the
case of coronavirus. As the world is fighting with coronavirus pandemic. One thing that makes us alert is that heavy use of hand sanitizers could boost antimicrobial resistance. Yes, it might be possible.Bacteria are resistant to these antimicrobials if used again and again without any restrictions. This means if misuse of antibiotics or overdose of antibiotics without recommendation the consequences can be severe. This will put an extra effort into struggling the antimicrobial resistance. As antibiotics, the excessive use of cleaning products and hand sanitizers can lead to an increase in the number of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria species encountered this time. Since the problem could continue even after the pandemic is over. Bacteria can also gain resistance if inappropriate or excessive use of certain chemicals, like cleaning agents. This can provide a survival advantage to the resistant strains most of the time, leading to severe conditions. Homemade hand sanitizers also sometimes lead to the resistant strain of bacteria because it contains alcohols that have antibacterial properties in the right quantities. And any material that is antibacterial has the potential to increase the antimicrobial resistance. Many of these cleaning agents include phenols and hydrogen peroxide that have the potential to damage or alter DNA and are also referred to as genotoxic agents.
If bacteria are multiplying fast, then DNA damage is normal cellular metabolism. And this damage is normally repaired properly. However extensive DNA damage is reported or repair is incorrect, the cell won’t survive. And if a mutation occurs then genotoxicity is likely to see. It is also observed that
the more frequent the genotoxic events, the more likely a few surviving cells will acquire
antimicrobial resistance. As cleaning agents and hand sanitizers include alcohols, quaternary ammonium compounds, phenols, hydrogen peroxide, surfactants, benzalkonium chloride, and triclosan. The use ofsome of these compounds has already been linked to an increase in antimicrobial resistance. During the year 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, environmental microbiologists warned that the spike in antibiotic use would lead to more resistant bacterial infections. The same thing is also happening with
COVID-19 (coronavirus inducing disease-2019). Care is needed as bacterial superinfections (superbugs) make COVID-19 more deadly. It is seen during the 1918–1920 global influenza pandemic, a large proportion of patients died not from the virus itself but from secondary bacterial pneumonia that -
spread easily in the crowded hospital wards among the often malnourished and immunocompromised individuals. In this COVID-19 pandemic, scientific laboratories from the world are come forward to design and make the vaccine for it for treatment. One more important view come into existence now is to
make strict law and health policy which deals with fighting antimicrobial resistance, to save many
lives.
UNDERSTAND THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS: DO NOT MISUSE THEM
YOUR UNDERSTANDING WILL LIVE YOU A BETTER LIFE
BY
Dr.ANUBHA DUBEY (Ph.D. Bioinformatics)
Director & Trainer
Kanishksocialmedia
OUR E-LEARNING PLATFORM
https://kanishksocialmedia.business.site/
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