Antibiotics were discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, really by accident, when he noticed that mould on a culture plate had produced a substance which could kill bacteria.
Fleming tirelessly researched until he found a way of extracting the active product from the Penicillium mould; this became an early form of Penicillin and was shown to cure bacterial infections in mice.
By the early 1940s, antibiotics were widely introduced as cure-alls for even minor infections, but this over-use had a negative effect when some common bacteria became antibiotic resistant, and the problem persists to this day; almost as soon as new antibiotics are produced, bacteria mutate to develop a resistance.
Why the Use of Antibiotics Needs to be Restricted
In 2009, the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control in Sweden warned of the dangers of routinely handing out antibiotics for minor ailments due to the increase of infections that were becoming resistant.
Antibiotics cannot fight viruses such as those that cause the common cold or the flu, so prescribing them specifically for these conditions is of very little benefit. If a secondary infection is contracted, e.g. bacterial pneumonia, then antibiotics are essential for recovery.
Research shows that antibiotic prescription should be at least delayed for a short time to give the body a chance to build up its own immunity to infection.
In cases of viral infection, antibiotics have little or no affect and can cause uncomfortable side effects such as diarrhoea and nausea; there are also many cases of allergies to antibiotics, particularly penicillin.
The Dangers of Antibiotic Resistance
If infections were to become completely resistant to antibiotics, the consequences could be devastating. Infections in hospitals would become rife and mean that even simple operations and medical procedures would be too dangerous to attempt as the risk of an untreatable infection would be too great.
Fighting disease in general would become a much more lengthy procedure if antibiotics were to stop working, with harsher alternatives needing to be administered, creating a higher chance of serious side effects. Hospitals would become breeding grounds for infection, an example being MRSA, which in some cases has had a devastating impact on recovery time after operations, even resulting in death.
Our Own Immunity – The Best Defence
Our bodies are subjected to numerous harmful bacteria every single day; the reason we don’t succumb is thanks mainly to our immune systems.
Exposure to bacteria causes our body to produce antibodies to protect against and fight the bacteria; this then registers as a recognized threat and the body produces antibodies every time that particular bacterium is present. This is how our immune systems are built and there are many arguments to suggest that the more bacteria we come into contact with, the healthier our immune system will be as it learns to fight more threats.
Science has proven that children who fare better in the fight against illness are those who are more exposed to normal environmental bacteria, therefore developing a more efficient immune system.
It is important to realize that our own immune systems are more than capable of dealing with the constant onslaught of bacteria attacking our bodies on a daily basis, and to expect doctors to prescribe antibiotics immediately for every little sniffle can actually undermine the natural process.
- Types of Bacteria
- Bupa – Antibiotics
