Antibacterial drug resistance: Not immediately disappears after a stoppage
In everyday life, there is a misunderstanding that resistance to anti-bacterial drugs disappears immediately after the regimen has stopped. Such misconceptions may lead people to be light when using anti-bacterial drugs, thus posing a serious threat to public health.
Antibacterial resistance, in short, means that micro-organisms such as bacteria, after exposure to antibacterial drugs, acquire the ability to resist the effects of the drug through their own variations or other mechanisms. This has rendered ineffective the antibacterial drugs that could have effectively killed or suppressed these micro-organisms. For example, the golden fungus, which was sensitive to penicillin, was modified by the widespread use of penicillin, resulting in an enzyme capable of destroying the penicillin structure, the β-neamide enzymes, which prevented penicillin from working on them, and the bacteria became transicillin-resistant golden fungus.
When patients use antibacterial drugs, the drugs kill or suppress the sensitive bacteria in the body. However, the irregular use of drugs during treatment, such as insufficient dosages, inadequate sessions or self-detoxification, may result in some bacteria not being completely eliminated. If these bacteria are present, they will continue to survive and reproduce in the body. Moreover, these drug-resistant bacteria may pass on their resistant genes to other otherwise sensitive bacteria, making them more resistant through the exchange of genetic materials such as particles.
Even if the patient ceases to use antibacterial drugs, these resistant bacteria will not disappear immediately. They may be planted in a part of the body, such as intestinal, respiratory, etc. In the intestine, for example, there are a large number of micro-organisms in the human intestinal tract, and when drug-resistant bacteria are planted in the intestinal tract, they persist and may cause re-infection under certain conditions. Moreover, when these bacteria with drug-resistant genes spread to others, the spread of drug-resistant bacteria expands. For example, one patient with a drug-resistant urinary tract infection may still have a drug-resistant fungus in his urine after the withdrawal. If personal hygiene is not taken into account in daily life, these resistant bacteria can contaminate the surrounding environment, such as toilets, doorknobs, etc., and others are exposed to the risk of infection with the resistant bacteria.
From a more macro-level point of view, the widespread use of antibacterial drugs in medical institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and in community settings has accelerated the production and spread of drug-resistant bacteria. If there is a false belief that drug resistance will disappear immediately after a stoppage, then there will be little focus on the rational use of antibacterial drugs, which will further increase the prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria. For example, in hospitals, when the problem is ignored by both health-care providers and patients, the unreasonable use of antibacterial drugs is frequent, leading to an increasing incidence of drug-resistant infections in hospitals, increasing the difficulty of treatment and mortality.
Addressing the global problem of anti-bacterial drug resistance requires, first and foremost, correcting misconceptions. The public needs to be aware that antibacterial drug resistance is a persistent threat and does not quickly disappear as a result of a stoppage. In the use of anti-bacterial drugs, the prescription of the doctor must be strictly followed, at prescribed doses, during the course of treatment, and no self-reducing or early stoppage of the drug should be allowed. At the same time, the management of anti-micropharmaceutical drug use is being strengthened in health-care institutions, and educational activities are being carried out to raise awareness among health-care personnel and patients about anti-micropharmaceutical drug resistance.
We must be well aware of the fact that resistance to antibacterial drugs does not disappear immediately after it has ceased. Only through a concerted effort by society as a whole to regulate the use of antibacterial drugs and to strengthen prevention and control measures against infection can we effectively slow down the spread of resistant bacteria and protect our health and future medical resources.
