What is antibiotic resistance?

If you’ve ever gone to the doctor for an ear ache, sinus infection, strep throat, or acne, you’ve probably been prescribed an antibiotic. Antibiotics fight bacteria by either stopping them from reproducing or destroying them. For example, the common antibiotic penicillin works by keeping a bacterium from building a cell wall. However, over usage of antibiotics has contributed to bacteria mutating, thereby becoming resistant to conventional antibiotics. As those bacteria go on to reproduce, in no time does a strain of bacteria become resistant to drugs.

Antibiotic resistance is slowly becoming the “new black” in the world of medicine. At an ever-increasing rate, common illnesses ranging from Strep Throat to Gonorrhea are outsmarting us at every turn. Unless a solution is found to combat drug resistant infections, these common ailments could prove to be fatal.