Antimicrobial Resistance occurs when bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms learn to resist the medications meant to kill them. That implies that the germs survive and develop. Treatment for resistant infections can be challenging and perhaps impossible. Antimicrobial resistance poses a serious danger to global public health, causing at least 1.27 million deaths globally and approximately 5 million fatalities in 2019. The healthcare, veterinary, and agricultural sectors, as well as individuals at any stage of life, could be impacted by antimicrobial resistance. This makes it one of the foremost public health issues on the entire planet.

Mechanism of Resistance

Antibiotics function by engaging with specific bacterial targets, preventing bacterial protein synthesis, nucleic acid replication, or cell wall construction. The antibiotic must have access to and bind to its bacterial target site in order to achieve this. Whether Antibiotic Resistance is inherent or acquired, the genetic determinants of resistance encode particular biochemical resistance mechanisms, some of which may involve drug inactivation by enzymes, changes to the antibiotic target site's structure, and obstructions to the access of an adequate concentration of the antimicrobial agent to the active site.

Impact of Resistance

To be hazardous, bacteria and fungi do not necessarily need to be resistant to all antibiotics or antifungals. Even a single drug resistance can lead to major issues. For instance:

• Second- and third-line treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections can harm patients by resulting in severe adverse effects, such as organ failure, and delaying treatment and recovery for weeks or even months.
• A number of medical procedures including joint replacements, organ transplants, cancer therapy, and the treatment of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis, require antibiotics to fight infections.

Conclusion

Infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant organisms are increasing day by day, and they are having more negative effects as well. A bacterial chromosomal DNA mutation may result in acquired antibiotic resistance. Enzymatic drug inactivation and bacterial alterations that hinder access to or binding to the drug target are two of the main causes of antimicrobial resistance. It is possible that clonal transmission of an "epidemic" strain of a common pathogen is responsible for the establishment and spread of antimicrobial-resistant. Additional preventive and control strategies need to be undertaken to counterattack the resistance of microorganisms.

References:

1. Michael R. Mulvey and Andrew E. Simor CMAJ February 17, 2009, 180 (4) 408-415.
2. Schwartz B, Bell D, Hughes JM. Preventing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance: a call for action by clinicians, public health officials, and patients. JAMA 1997;278:944-5.
3. https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html