is it true that there is only one antibiotic left?

Question

is it true, i mean because wee all becoming immune to the antibiotic, well were not, but the bacteria is,
tell me
is we only have one left
what were gonna do after that?

just curious

Answer 1

No that's completely false. We have plenty left and it is not us who become resistent to antibiotics, rather it is bacteria that becomes resistent.

Answer 2

No it isnt true. I work in a bacteriology lab and test for resistance every day. there are hundreds of types of antibiotic but not many modes of action...ie they have different names but a lot of them work the same way so if a bacterium is resistant to one antibiotic it will be resistant to a whole group of them. Currently the major resistance problems are MRSA, VRE (as someone metioned before) and ESBLs...which stand for Extended spectrum beta lactamases....these are more deadly than anything else. ESBLs produce an enzyme which actually inactivates the antibiotic and there is only one type of antibiotic which will work against these...after that who knows!!
The problem is now that drug companies are just not investing in finding new antibiotics becuase they cost so much and it takes around 6 years of testing to bring them to market, then if the bacteria become resistant in a few years they have wasted all that money.
I wouldnt worry too much though if i were you. The people at risk tend to be elderly or immunocompromised (people with HIV or cancer etc) and to be honest i think it was bound to happen as the population is getting older and older and we are curing more things, nature has to find some way of killing people off!!!

Answer 3

There are many different types of antibiotics, not just one. In time, bacteria mutates and becomes resistant to certain antibiotics (VRE - for example, which is resistant to Vancomycin). However, when that happens, you just take another one, or another one if that doesn't work. In other words, by the time we find all the bacteria in the world is resistant to the current antibiotics out there, there will already be several others created that don't exist today. That's how the world turns.. :)

Answer 4

sort of yes,
There are some bacteria that have developed immunities to all known antibiotics except one. There are also other bacteria that have developed the immunity to those antibiotics. It has been done in a closed lab, that the bacteria lacking one, has been in contact with the other under hostile conditions and ended up learning to be immume to the last antibiotic. The samples were all destroyed.
The problem is, eventually it will happen. If we dont develope a new antibiotic, people will die as a result.

Answer 5

no there are many "types" of antibiotics..while it is true that these bacteria are mutating, hope fully scientists will continue to come up with new and better antibiotics to fight these mutates bugs. My suggestion and what I do personally, is i dont take antibiotics unless Im in a really sick way. Try to let your body fight it off naturally first. Do all you can to keep healthy. WE CANNOT ALLOW doctors (etc) to be our falling grace, , we need to take control of our own bodies. There is really no miracle drugs, that work wonders, w/o side effects.
Like for instance, I had a friend who took fen fen to loose weigh,in the 1980's, "miracle weight loss drug" given by doctors..well, she died 6 years later, thin yes, but the drug broke her heart muscles down so badly..and she died of a MASSIVE heart attack, at 36 yrs old.
and these damn pharmacutical companys said it was ok to use this, and it was safe. see all the class action suites about drugs this last year or so? well money doesnt fix what alot of these medications are doing to us.
Sorry for rambling, Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Yes. That is true and there is reason to worry. The problem with antibiotic use is that harmless microorganisms in your body may become immune to the treatments you are using to destroy malicious organisms. Once the harmless organisms learn it, they remain in your body. When you then get your next infection, the trait of resistance can be passed from the harmless microorganisms to the harmful ones via plasmid DNA. So even though you used all of your medication like your doctor told you to the first time, and all of it the second time, you still end up infected with immune microorganisms living inside of you.
We must continue to develope new medicines or risk the health of our loved ones.
-As somone pointed out above, yes the human race will survive, but will your mother survive her next infection? Will your child? Your grandchildren?

Answer 7

Generally there is always one antibiotic that is the cure all for resistant strains. It is termed the "Silver bullet." As new resistant strains appear, doctors are forced to use the silver bullet more often (Last time I heard it was vancomyacin, not sure if it is still considered the silver bullet). The silver bullet antibiotic has changed over time with the appearance of resistance. That is why people say there is "one left," because it is the last line of defense we have.

Answer 8

no that's not true.

and relax.. we didn't have antibiotics till the 1900's.. the human race will survive..

But YES! We do need to be responsible with our use of antibiotics.. make sure to always take the entire Rx given to you by your doctor.

Answer 9

I don't know the answer to this question, but you seem to worried. I hope with all this worry you have found God.