What Is Antibiotic Resistance?

Antibiotic resistance is the process in which bacteria changes so antibiotic medication is not able to stop them in their growth.

When this occurs, bacterial infections cannot be treated with these medications and become much more difficult to treat. This resistance is one type of antimicrobial resistance, which can also occur in fungi, parasites, or viruses.

This process does not occur by the individual human body itself, but by bacteria. It means there are less antibiotic options to treat a particular bacterium. Even if another antibiotic is available, we must have as many options as possible to treat infections quickly; delays can lead to serious consequences, such as death, medication side effects, long hospital stays, and higher medical costs.