integrated essay- antibiotics

The lecture introduces the emergence of drug-resistant strains of bacteria in order to cast doubt on the idea presented by the reading passage that antibiotics are wonder drugs which can manage all bacterial infections efficiently.

The lecturer states that drug-resistant bacteria have been developing since 1950, Thus; it is no longer safe to stay in hospitals because hospital infections put you in danger of drug-resistance diseases. It refutes the claim in the passage that antibiotics can eradicate hospital acquired infections quickly and effectively.

Moreover, he explains that bacterial colonies which are attacked by chemical drugs usually are not destroyed completely. In fact, some very resistant bacteria can escape the death via developing neutralizing enzymes or other bacterial weapons. Therefore, remaining cells produce new colonies that can effectively fight against the antibiotics. This undermines the claimed efficacy of antibiotics by the passage, as powerful weapons against any infectious microorganism.

Finally, the lecturer gives examples of diseases, formerly known as curable with antibiotics, which are no longer sensitive to conventional drugs. Today, pneumonia patients will die despite large doses of penicillin, and there are patients with tuberculosis whose diseases are resistant to any known antibiotics. This negates the passage that antibiotics are wonder drugs because they can save pneumonia and tuberculosis patients from death.