Drug resistance is a huge problem with many infectious agents, especially Mycoba

Question

Drug resistance is a huge problem with many infectious agents, especially Mycobacterium tuberculosis. (a) name two aspects of TB therapy that contribute to why resistance is occurring/arising so frequently in M.tuberculosis versus other pathogens? (b) what is one successful program/effort used by the world health organization (WHO) to decrease the accumulation of resistance? (c) why is this program/effort successful, even in less developed countries/regions? (d) what is it called when a cell suddenly becomes genetically different without any outside assistance or intervention ? (e) other types of bacteria often share antibiotic resistance genes with each other. what are three different ways by which this occurs?

Explanation / Answer

Two reasons why the multi drug resistance against TB is increasing in comparison to other pathogens are mismanagement of TB treatment and person to person transmission. The TB treatment requires use of medicines for continuous 6 months. The mismanagement of TB treatment includes low quality of medicines, premature stopping the use of medicines and incorrect antibacterial drugs. WHO has come up with program that includes short treatment regime for TB known as DOTS (directly observed therapy-short course)-Plus, access to diagnosis of TB to all and sufficient infection control facilities. These programs are very successful in less developed regions because the government in association with NGO provide free access to MDR TB medicines to all. In addition, both the agencies are working together to create awareness among the people about fit falls associated with premature stopping the use of medicine. The cell is said be mutated if suddenly it becomes genetically different without assistance or intervention. There are 3 ways by which antibiotic genes are shared by bacteria: 1) inherent/ natural resistance- which arises because of transfer of replicated antibiotic resistance genes from parents to the daughter cells. 2) acquired resistance by horizontal gene transfer- Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) defines the process by which genetic material in form of small packets are transferred by one bacteria to other. HGT can be mediated by transformation, conjugation or transduction.

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