Will some diseases soon become incurable?

Globally around 13 million people are killed by diseases that are passed from one organism to another, known as communicable diseases. That is 23% of all deaths, highlighting the detrimental effects of these diseases to humanity.

Vast amounts of these diseases are due to bacteria, despite only a small proportion of the bacteria population being pathogenic. Bacteria is able to reproduce rapidly, making it easier for it to spread. Consequently, bacterial diseases are able to spread from organisms to organisms quickly by direct and indirect transmission. To kill pathogenic bacteria and prevent bacterial diseases antibiotics and vaccinations are used. Although, new resistant bacteria is developing making the treatments ineffective. Bacterial diseases that risk becoming antibiotic resistant include:
§  -Tuberculosis- a disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacteria tuberculosis. It suppresses the immune system, and if the immune system fails it could spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs.
§  -Gonorrhoea- a sexually transmitted disease causes by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The bacteria can spread to the reproductive organs and cause pelvic inflammatory disease this can lead to long-term pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility.
§  -Typhoid- caused by a bacterium called Salmonella typhi. It can cause internal bleeding in the digestive system and splitting of the digestive system or bowel.

Resistant strains of bacteria arise when a mutation occurs, producing bacteria with a new gene. If this gene happens to be antibiotic resistance then they will live on and the likelihood of them surviving is high, as there is selection pressure within the species. Therefore, by having this new favourable gene there is a strong natural selection for the bacteria, enabling it to live on and reproduce. Bacteria can reproduce rapidly, by division, so a new population will form quickly. This could eventually lead to the extinction of non-resistant bacteria, leaving only the resistant strains of bacteria. If this occurs new methods would need to be produce to combat the new strain of resistant bacteria, otherwise there could be huge outbreaks of the disease that the bacteria causes. For a period of time the disease could become incurable with no effective cure, which would result in major problems.

Currently, various projects are being conducted to prevent and find cures for resistant bacteria. Vaccination are given to combat many bacterial diseases and prevent them from occurring, but new strain of the resistant bacteria means that new vaccines new to be developed constantly. The use of antibiotics is also another key way that diseases are prevented, however it faces the same problems are vaccinations do.
Resistant strains of bacteria can be reduced for the long term in the following ways:
o   Hygiene is good in places where illnesses to be common and can be spread easily, like hospitals and car homes. This prevents the spread of resistant bacteria and the disease it causes spreading.
o   If antibiotics are prescribed then then doses are not skipped and the full course of antibiotics is completed, even if the patients feels better. This reduces the risk of resistant individuals surviving and thus evolving into a resistant strain population.
o   Antibiotics use is minimised and not used for viral infections, like common colds. As resistant strains could survive and live on to reproduce.

Hope you found this insightful. Thanks for reading.
Written by Aarti Chopra
Universal Medicine

Sources:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tuberculosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gonorrhoea/Pages/new_Complications.aspx
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Typhoid-fever/Pages/complications.aspx
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/09/6-diseases-becoming-resistant-to-antibiotics

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