Antibiotics Evolve Bacteria in the Gut
New antibiotics have been coming out at frequent intervals since then, and bacteria have evolved resistance to just about every one of them. Nowadays, the most ominous example is MRSA (methycillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which has succeeded in making many hospitals positively dangerous places to visit. Another menace is ' C. diff.' ( Clostridium difficile). Here again, we have natural selection favouring strains that are resistant to antibiotics; but the effect is overlain by another one. Prolonged use of antibiotics tends to kill 'good' bacteria in the gut, along with the bad ones. C. diff., being resistant to most antibiotics, is greatly helped by the absence of other species of bacteria with which it would normally compete. It is the principle of 'my enemy's enemy is my friend'.
Notes:
As the bacteria adapt to the hostile environment.
Folksonomies: evolution natural selection antibiotics
Taxonomies:
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/society/welfare/healthcare/hospital (0.387146)
/business and industrial/agriculture and forestry/livestock (0.358649)
Keywords:
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Concepts:
Antibiotic resistance (0.955564): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Clostridium difficile (0.500962): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Antibiotic (0.465795): dbpedia | opencyc
Gut flora (0.463313): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Staphylococcus aureus (0.402228): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Natural selection (0.399202): dbpedia | freebase
Vancomycin (0.391230): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Bacteria (0.372934): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
