Antibiotic Resistance is SO COMPLICATED

You may be tempted to think of the relationship between antibiotics and bacteria as adversarial, but it's actually much more complex than that. And that complexity may help us to overcome an increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

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[GratiaCountryman]

One problem is the way people often take antibiotics. When you’re prescribed antibiotics, you’re supposed to take the entire bottle for the entire time prescribed. That’s what you need to do to kill all the bacteria. Unfortunately, people tend to just take them until we feel better, then stop. That leaves bacteria alive to pass resistance through to the next generation. That’s how tuberculosis became resistant to antibiotics.

[jp]

My ex was a medical resident and now family doctor. She took antibiotics for something and SHE DID NOT FINISH THE BOTTLE! Her hypocrisy was rather upsetting.

[veryberry]

"Obviously we don't make sick people eat dirt"

I don't know why, but that really made me laugh.

[luvsail]

I practiced pediatrics for 20 years. Throughout my career, one of the most common challenges I faced was convincing skeptical parents that their child didn’t need an antibiotic because the infection was viral and would be better in 7-14 days no matter what. In those cases it was also important to make sure the parents understood what symptoms to look for that might warrant a follow up appointment or in some cases a prescription.

[_galaxydrifter_]

Antibiotic resistance is something Im definitely concerned about as an immunocompromised person, Ive had to have 6 courses of antibiotics in the last 3 or 4 months. The time before this last one I ended up in the ER after the first prescribed antibiotic didnt work to clear the infection. I’m hoping I wont have to go back on one for awhile now, it sure does wreck the stomach, but better than going septic.

[DragonFae]

'Refusing to die' put an image in my mind of an antibiotic pointing at a germ and saying 'die!' and the germ just crossing its arms and saying 'no!'.

[joequincy]

I love how unafraid of words like "kill" and "murder" the script writers are when talking about bacteria.

[AgelessTurtle]

This makes sense to me! It makes sense that antibiotics would have more function than killing. Life is so much more complex than we realize

[masonjohnson]

I remember seeing some papers investigating phage therapy and how it seems that virus resistance is inversely correlated to antibiotic resistance, at least in some cases. I wonder if that is related to the ideas mentioned in this episode. If a population of bacteria is being battered by a virus, perhaps it might turn down the antibiotic resistance (and corresponding antibiotics), allowing other bacteria closer, and maybe one of them has resistance to the virus that the original population can get for itself. Then, once the virus is beaten back, it can turn back up its antibiotic resistances.

[pastaman]

I did a research project during one of my classes last semester where we took soil samples from around campus and isolated the bacteria to test them for antibiotic resistance, it was pretty cool

[michelleallen]

No matter how burned out, depressed or in pain I am, scishow gets me through it. Thank you crew.

[glenngriffon]

So it's a bit like a hand on the face. If someone touches your face softly it's a sign of affection, tenderness and love. If the hand is delivered to the face with more energy behind it it's seen as an insult, an attack, a declaration of war.

[harrietharlow]

Thank you so much for uploading! Antibiotics literally saved my life when I was 4.As I age, antibiotic resistence is a definite concern as well as for those dealing with life-threatening illesses, It will be wonderful if we can figure out a way around resistence. If we do manage this, I hope doctors will use this tool wisely so that we can have protection and help when we need it.

[TairoruXRyuu]

I've been fighting an antibiotic resistant superbug UTI (Klebsiella) for a month now. I've been on Levaquin for a month and it still hasn't gone away. :( And I'm probably going to have to go on it for longer, my body is gonna be so screwed up

[Joss]

Seems like having a healthy mix of gut bacteria and yeasts etc and a healthy mix on the skin is a natural first barrier to disease. Great video, thanks, oh and I remember learning about bacteria using pili to transfer genetic info on this about 1981. Just an old memory. All the best Joseph

[paulbennett]

A complex concept explained. It's what this channel does!

[MrNoodle]

I love this. One of my lecturers is researching this. I really want to join his lab 😂

[scrane]

Fish farming alone has made 90% of all seawater bacteria resistant to at least 1 antibiotic and 20% are already resistant to 5. Add that to the amount of AMR on factory farms going to go watch some cute cat videos now. Thanks a lot SciShow!

[billfarnsworth]

Somebody else may have already commented about SciShow failing to give credit to the Australian doctor Howard Florey with regard to penicilin. While Alexander Fleming is rightly acknowledged with discovering penicillin in 1928, it was Howard Walter Florey who actually did the hard work in conducting the initial clinical trials and leading a medical team that first produced large viable quantities of penicilin, the life-saving antibiotic. Florey received the Nobel Prize in 1945 for his leading role in the development of penicilin.

[yeetghostrat]

Benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid can clear up a skin infection, including MRSA, without risk of resistance and extremely low risk of side effects (beyond dry skin). Saved my father's life when he had a MRSA infection that was resistant to all antibiotics. It's also what I've been using exclusively for years, as a MRSA carrier with a wonky immune system... and clumsiness when working with sharp objects...

The MRSA I carry was not the same strain my father caught. Mine responds well to everything but methicillin. He contracted his from a test he had done at a hospital.