THE GROWING GLOBAL THREAT OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Antibiotics have been one of humanity’s success stories for hundreds of years, being responsible
both for saving the lives of millions of patients and for helping scientists to take enormous steps
in the fields of medical and surgical treatment. But this success has come to a price. The growing
resistance of many bacterial strains to the curative effects of antibiotics is such a concern that it
has been referred to, in some quarters, as the greatest threat to our continued existence on earth.
We have become careless, it is argued, not only in our reliance on the quick fix of medicine if
we feel even slightly under the weather, but also in taking the availability of antibiotics for
granted, using them incorrectly, not following the prescribed dosage. This has given rise to a
new form of superbacteria, a type which is able to fight off antibiotic treatment with ease.

Although their resistance to antibiotics has been built up over a long period of time, bacteria
actually replicate extraordinarily quickly, and any resistance developed is also duplicated as they
divide. In addition, those bacteria carrying resistance genes happen to spread those genes further
via “horizontal gene transfer”, a process whereby one bacterium passes on the resistance gene
from another without even needing to be its parent. What makes the spread of these strains more
difficult to control is that it occurs in a cyclical process. In the case of humans, when a person
becomes infected and the resistant bacteria set up home in the gut, the sufferer has two choices:
look for help or stay at home. In seeking medical assistance, whether through an appointment to
visit their local doctor, or taking themselves to hospital, they contaminate other patients, later to
be discharged and sent home. Then resistant bacteria then spread out into the local community.
This is also the end result if the infected person decides not to seek any medical assistance at all:
they keep the bacteria ta home and allow them to breed without treatment.

Livestock also play their part in dispersing these newly evolved, bullet-proof microorganisms
into the food chain. The resilient bacteria do not discriminate between man and beast, and so
animals play host to the very same bacteria as are found in humans, with the end result that our
farms and abattoirs have become breeding grounds for inter-species infection. In fact, even after
slaughter, these bacteria can easily survive on animal carcasses, remaining alive and reproducing
until the point of purchase and beyond, eventually invading our systems when we ingest the flesh
as infected meat. So is the answer simply to become a vegetarian? Sadly not. The very same
resistant bacteria will leave a host animal’s gut in the form of faeces, which are employed in
agriculture as manure to support food crops. From there, the wheat, maize and corn that are
grown for human consumption transport bacteria into our bodies. There really is no escape.

That said, there is always something that can be done to try and minimize any risk, however
much of a lost cause it might seem. In 2014, after accumulating data from 114 countries, the
World Health Organization (WHO), issued a set of guidelines intended to tackle the increasing
problem of resistance. Doctors and pharmacists were advised to avoid prescribing and dispensing
antibiotics as much and as often as possible. Only when treatment is utterly necessary should
they resort to doing so, while the greatest of care should be taken to ensure that the antibiotics
they provide are the correct ones to treat the illness. In turn public must play t, the general
heirpart by only taking antibiotics as prescribed by a doctor, as well as making sure they see out
the full course, even if they feel better before the antibiotics are finished. Additionally, they
should never share their medication with others or – astonishing as it may seem that this would
need to be stated – buy drugs online.

Away from the individual and onto organizations, the WHO has urged policymakers to invest in
laboratory capacity and research to track increasing drug resistance as it happens, over time. Our
leaders and governors were also advised to ensure that use of antibiotics is strictly regulated,
something that can only be achieved through cooperation between themselves and the
pharmaceutical industry. If innovation in research were encouraged, and new tools developed,
the WHO argued, the threat might yet be contained. But herein lies the biggest challenge of all.
Antibiotic development has slowed down considerably over recent decades as the
pharmaceutical industry becomes ever more governed by profit margins. Since they are used for
a relatively short time, and are often effective in curing the patient, antibiotics are nowhere near
as lucrative as the drugs that treat long-term disorders, such as diabetes or asthma. Because
medicines for chronic conditions are so much more profitable, this is where pharmaceutical
companies invest their time and money. A further stumbling block is the relatively low cost of
antibiotics, newer examples of which tend to cost a maximum of £ 1000 to £ 3000 per course.
When compared to cancer chemotherapy, for example, a process of treatment that costs tens of
thousands of pounds, the discrepancy becomes impossible to mend.
As a race, humans have seen remarkable health benefits over the years as a huge number of
illnesses have been treated by antibiotics, but we now face a global emergency as
antibioticresistant bacteria are beginning to emerge more rapidly and frequently than ever before.
Not only has this created a potential health crisis, since we are increasingly unable to provide the
sick with treatment as a result of worldwide overuse of these drugs, but it is also unlikely to be
tackled any time soon, as the powerful pharmaceutical companies are primarily driven by profit
and see little benefit in creating and researching new antibiotics. It simply does not work on the
balance sheet, and so it falls to governments and individuals around the world to find ways to
manage the crisis. Coordinating such efforts will not be easy.

Questions 1-7 Complete the flow-chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
from the passage for each answer.

1. Cyclical process
2. Two choices
3. Resistance bacteria
 4. Medical assistance
5. Infected meat
6. Food crops
7. Bodies
8. Full course
9. Astonishing
10. Drug
11. New tools

Questions 8-11 Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from
the passage for each answer.

Questions 12-14 Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
from the passage for each answer.
12 The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could put a stop to the _illnesses_____
that have been enjoyed by humanity.
13 Owing to its______overuse________ , antibiotic treatment of people with illnesses is
becoming dangerously less effective.
14 With pharmaceutical companies preoccupied with profit, responsible governments and
individuals must take steps to tackle the____crisis________ themselves.