Antibiotic Resistance

Fight the Resistance!……..sounds like Star Wars

What is CRE?

CRE stands for Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Now let’s bring it back to the basics. Carbapenems are a class of antibiotics that work by slowing or stopping the cell wall synthesis in Gram-positive and Gram- negative bacteria. They are a part of the beta-lactam Antibiotics that prevent cross-links from forming on the cell well by competing with bacterial enzymes for the process. They are super cool though because, unlike other antibiotics in this category, they are not inhibited by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase so they are used as a last resort medication. Wahoo! So, they are more likely to work unless the bacterium produced a carbapenemase….but that is beside the point.

Ok…Ok… But Why Is This Important?

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a real issue in today’s society because over the years, antibiotics have been prescribed for everything and now bacteria are learning to cope and survive in the presence of medications with the help of efflux pumps (pump the antibiotic from the bacterial cell) and impermeable outer-coats and membranes. But there is A NEW HOPE (another Star Wars reference)! According to Maria Cohut with Medical News Today, there is a new drug being tested that is showing positive results against bacterial UTI’s caused by Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are all CRE bacteria. This new antibiotic, cefiderocol, works to trick the bacterial cells into allowing the antibiotic through the Gram-negative cell wall. These specific bacteria depend on iron to survive. The immune response is to create an environment lacking iron, thus the bacteria increase their uptake. Cefiderocol binds to iron molecules and catches a ride into the cell. From there, the antibiotic can prevent cell-wall synthesis.

The fact that there are new antibiotics being discovered, genetically manipulated, and tested is really encouraging when there is such an issue with resistant bacteria. But, in order to not let history repeat itself, I hope health care professionals prescribe in a more conservative way to prevent mutations and resistance from spreading.

Yay We Are Winning The War….Or Are We?

Although more drugs are being researched to fight bacteria, the bacteria themselves are still adapting and becoming resistance. As resistance became more prevalent, health care facilities hunkered down on cleaning measurements. Now just after a few years, there are strains of bacteria becoming resistance to the alcohol-based disinfectants used in hospitals, such as hand rubs. According to Tim Newman with Medical News Today, a bacterium called Enterococcus faecium has adapted in the presence of these alcohol-based disinfectants. Scientists have tested the sensitivity of bacteria samples from different years and the results show that since 2009, the bacteria has become increasingly resistant to isopropyl alcohol. And now, E. faecium is becoming a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Although this study is recent and is in the first stages of development, it is really scary to think that the best cleaning mechanisms we can efficiently use are becoming…well pointless.

I mean, if our best defenses are falling to bacteria, what do we do now? Bacteria have been around since forever and humans haven’t, so what does that say about the future? Well, if we just all move to space and use lightsabers as protection, maybe that will help.