Antibiotic Resistance: Actions to accelerate global response

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of increasing patterns of antibiotic resistance on the global response to combat the spread of antibiotic resistance. The focus will be on global contributors to antibiotic resistance, the emergence of antibiotic resistance globally, previous efforts to combat antibiotic resistance, bright spots of where it has worked, and their effectiveness. Data will be collected from 4 databases: PUBMED, JSTOR, Gale, and ProQuest. After reviewing the titles and abstracts of the papers selected, relevant articles were retrieved for full-text review. Today, resistance patterns in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria are difficult to treat and are possibly untreatable with today’s antibiotics. The overall main factors are the current shortage of effective treatments, lack of prevention measures, and new antibiotics, which require the creation of new and original treatment options and alternative antimicrobial therapies (Frieri et al., 2017). Some minor contributors of antibiotic resistance include demographic factors, the poor quality of available antibiotics, misuse, the ease of obtaining antibiotics. Self-medication and lack of regulation on medical imports are major factors in more developed countries. Antibiotic resistance was already widespread by the 1950s, but it spiked in the 1990s and early 2000s. Previous efforts to combat antibiotic resistance efforts in the healthcare sector, yielded very little to no success. The policies of global organizations include major attempts to draw attention and the need for efforts to alleviate the problem. New and novel modern efforts to combat antibiotic resistance have, however, yielded results. In communities, cleaning your hands by using alcohol-based wipes or soap and water has proven effective in preventing infection, and this can stop the spread of antibiotic resistance. In hospitals, preventing infections has proven very effective. Clinicians can also play a role in combating antibiotic resistance, as they are in direct contact with patients, they can either spread or control infection and antibiotic resistance. Educating nurses and other clinicians about antibiotic resistance may help in control of spread of infections. Pharmacists can also provide patients with infections information about the ineffectiveness of antibacterials and can recommend appropriate over-the-counter medication for treatment (Uchil et al., 2014).