Group IV Topic Help: Antibiotic Resistant Diseases?

[IBStressingOut]

So I know people aren't allowed to post full experiments about their group 4 project and stuff, but I just really needed help on narrowing my group's topic down! Our topic is Antibiotic Resistant Diseases . It seems interesting but I just have no idea how to narrow it down...kind of frustrated we got this topic because a lot of other groups got topics like Deforestation, Water Supply...really easy stuff! Can someone help? Thanks.

[sweetnsimple786]

Hmm you're expected to conduct an experiment under this? I can't imagine! I know last year's G4 project at our school kinda failed in the bio section. We couldn't conduct the biology segment of our experiment, so we ended up just researching and writing about it. If you're expected to perform an experiment, it's not going to be on humans.

Caution. Don't read.

Orrr you could perhaps broaden your definition of "disease." What I'm about to suggest is not appropriate and downright laughable, but let me just say it for the snorts and giggles. Perhaps you could call hiccuping a disease or frowning. It can be contagious. And I don't think we have known medication for it. You could put to test the "If I smile at you, you're more apt to smile back" thing.

[IBStressingOut]

We don't have to conduct an experiment its just research/writing about it.

[sweetnsimple786]

Well in that case, if you're in biology, you're probably going to cover several viral infections. Some of them affect a certain group more prolifically than others. That probably wouldn't be a bad thing to look into if it interests you. I'm being ambiguous on purpose. I don't really know what you're asking for other than that. When I think of antibiotic resistant, I think of viral. -shrug-

[IBStressingOut]

Hah, that's ok. I'm actually looking at a lot of viral infections right now like MRSA and strep and researching those to see if I can find anymore...and I'll look into if maybe these viral infections have an environmental impact as well.

EDIT: Another thing: how could a solution to antibiotic resistant diseases solve a local issue?

Edited November 28, 2009 by ibStressinOut

[Sandwich]

Hah, that's ok. I'm actually looking at a lot of viral infections right now like MRSA and strep and researching those to see if I can find anymore...and I'll look into if maybe these viral infections have an environmental impact as well.

EDIT: Another thing: how could a solution to antibiotic resistant diseases solve a local issue?

Have you thought about using examples of antibiotics given to livestock? Give livestock antibiotics to keep them healthy and disease-free, but of course we can generate substantial levels of bacterial resistance doing this which can then cross over into humans.

e.g.

Antibiotic resistance

To avoid elimination by antibiotic substances bacteria develop resistance by mutation or by acquisition of genes from other bacteria. Horizontal gene transfer between bacteria is a common event and an important factor in microbial evolution. The consequences of antibiotic resistance are seen as an increase in morbidity and mortality due to bacterial diseases.

In a report on 'The Medical Impact Of The Use Of Antimicrobials In Food Animals' the World Health Organisation acknowledged that in general, there is little doubt that treatment problems in humans due to resistant bacteria are primarily related to the prescribing practices of health workers and to medication-taking practices of patients. In its Report (August 1999) the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) Working Group on Microbial Antibiotic Resistance in Relation to Food Safety stated that 'It is highly probable that the greatest stimulant to the production of resistant bacteria in humans is the use of antibiotics in human medicine.....' However, the Report also states 'We believe that it (the evidence) shows conclusively that giving antibiotics to animals results in the emergence of some resistant bacteria which infect humans.'

Humans may eat antibiotic resistant bacteria on their food. Transmission of resistant bacteria between different species occurs, although the resulting colonisation may be transient. Transmission of resistance genes can and does occur in a variety of surroundings. The question that remains is how often successful transfer cause clinical problems.

Resistance genes can persist in the environment both in their original bacterial hosts and in environmental organisms. There was resistance to antibiotics long before antibiotics were used in medicine e.g. 2,000 year old antibiotic resistant bacteria have recently been isolated from glaciers in the Canadian Arctic. In the presence of antibiotics, resistant bacteria will have a competitive advantage.

Resistance becomes a problem when bacteria causing a disease withstand antibiotic therapy. Increased resistance to antibiotics may therefore cause clinical problems and may shorten the useful life span of some antibiotics. Cases of human salmonellosis caused by multiple resistant Salmonella typhimurium definitive phage type 104 are occurring in the UK and the majority of these arise from contact with animals or contaminated food. Antibiotics are only used to treat Salmonella in a small minority of cases in compromised patients but their use in those cases can be a case of life and death. Campylobacters, Clostridia and Yersinias may also develop resistance. It is not clear whether any of the vancomycin resistant enterococci found in man and causing disease belong to species or strains derived from animals but at present the suggestion is that they are not.

http://www.bsas.org.uk/about_the_bsas/issue_papers/antibiotic_use_in_farmed_livestock/

It's kinda a very minor problem and unlikely to be the cause of any real human complications, but it'd be some link between the "environment"/local issues and antibiotic resistance. The best I can think of, anyway! I can think of plenty examples of the environment and antibiotics, but only that one in terms of being related to resistance.

Oh and MRSA and Streptococcal infections are bacterial infections, not viral infections! It's not possible to have antibiotics against a virus (literally, antibiotic means "anti" "biotics" where biotics would be microorganisms, or just generally things which are alive i.e. couldn't possibly be viruses. In any case, antibiotics target the metabolic processes of these microorganisms, and of course viruses have no metabolic processes which aren't simply the hijacked processes of their human/animal hosts!).

EDIT: Thought of another thing For MRSA/clostridium dificile etc. there's been an absolute shedload of effort put into minimising it in hospitals, especially in the UK. You could talk about simple things like appropriate and frequent handwashing training (there's literally a 7-step technique to wash your hands...) for all visitors and staff in hospitals. This has cut MRSA levels VERY significantly in hospitals. This link is an example of some practical "solution" advice from a hospital trying to cut down on antibiotic-resistance bacteria (and bacteria/viral infections in general, but of course the real killers are the resistance strains, so it's particularly targeted at them). Well, it's more avoidance than a solution, but it's had a massive local impact. It's been such a big deal here, I'd be hugely surprised if you couldn't find some very extensive statistics to back up your research.

http://www.whittington.nhs.uk/default.asp?c=3931&t=1,3920