**Check back to respond to at least two (2) of your peers. Your response needs to be adequate and add additional thought and further discussion. Be sure to address each classmate by name.
Reply to classmates:
Classmate #1: Zaria Lawhorn posted Aug 21, 2025 12:28 PM
Define Antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobial resistance is when germs such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites evolve so that the drugs used to kill them no longer work.
Example: MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is resistant to many antibiotics, making it hard to treat
Define Resistance mechanism
A resistance mechanism is how microbes fight off or avoid the effects of a drug.
Example: Some bacteria, like E. coli, use efflux pumps to push antibiotics out of the cell before the drugs can work.
Three ways humans contribute to antibiotic resistance
1. Overusing antibiotics:
Taking antibiotics for viral infections or not finishing prescriptions.
2. Use in animals:
Giving antibiotics to farm animals for growth and prevention, which spreads resistant bacteria.
3. Poor infection control and travel:
Resistant germs spread quickly in hospitals and across countries.
Personal opinion
I don’t think we can completely stay ahead of antibiotic resistance because bacteria change too fast. But I do think we can slow it down by using antibiotics more carefully, improving infection control, and developing new treatments.
Reply:
Classmate #2: Katie Acosta posted Jul 8, 2025 1:12 AM
I do not think that the medical community alone is able to effectively stay ahead of antibiotic resistance. I think there are many factors contributing to antibiotic resistance that involves not only medicine, but also agriculture and universal environmental policies. Antibiotics are often used in agriculture to ensure the health of animals in large-scale farms; this is done to maximize production and meet the high demand for animal protein in many countries.[3] While there are policies constantly being made to limit the use of antibiotics, widespread abuse of antibiotics persist in agriculture and medicine. I think to truly stay ahead of antibiotic resistance, there needs to be coordinated efforts across medical and agricultural organizations that can be applied in a global framework.
Reply:
