Ceftazidime-Avibactam

We see that the media today is increasingly obsessed with the end of the world. Whether it is by an array of simultaneous natural disasters, nuclear wars, EMP attacks, or more recently the Zombie Apocalypse. It seems that everywhere we go we cannot escape the end of the world hype. However, all of these things have one thing in common; they are visible. They are something that we can visibly see coming. Imagine if instead of having a visible apocalyptic nightmare we had one that was silent. One that comes on like a thief in the night and by the time it is discovered it 's containment would prove to be futile. For some this is not just yet another cheesy teaser for an end time scenario film. It is all too real. The U.K. 's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies has even made the argument that antibiotic resistant disease should be considered a "national emergency", putting it in the same category as terrorism and natural disasters. Many of us have heard of the more common "superbugs". MRSA is by far the most common one that we hear of floating around long-term care facilities and hospitals. It turns out that a relatively new bug has also come on the scene. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, more commonly referred to as CRE, has made its debut in every city that was investigated by the CDC (WebMD). Carbapenem is a broad-spectrum antibiotic used to treat many gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. drugs.com also explains that Carbapenem is generally effective in treating organisms that produce beta-lactamase enzyme. It turns out that most Enterobacteriaceae produce these enzymes (nih.gov). So we can see how it would be an ideal choice for treating organisms belonging to this family. According to CDC.gov Two more common species belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family, include Kleibsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli (E.coli), and they are prime examples of normal flora living in our intestines that can become Carbapenem Resistant. The CDC goes on to explain that these organisms can evolve to create enzymes that breakdown carbapenems making them useless for treatment. Since these organisms have gained resistance to some of the most commonly used antibiotics, many doctors resort to using older antibiotics for treatment. These are much more harmful to the patient. As is the case with …show more content…
An advisory committee, however has recommended for this experimental drug to be used as a last resort. And of course the best defense is a good offense. So prevention is also key. Those in the healthcare industry have it drilled in their head proper hand washing techniques yet many fail to put them into action. If proper hygiene and proper sterilization of medical instruments were put into practice, who knows how much we could reduce the number of these cases. Resistance also happens due to overuse of antibiotics so using antibiotics only when they are necessary is also a key to reducing the number of cases of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Though there is an obsession in the media with the worlds fiery destruction, I think it is safe to say that no one wants those fantasies to become reality. As health care providers it is important that we do not take short-cuts. All proper sanitation procedures are implemented for a reason. The first step to reduce incidences of these bacteria really is prevention. We all can play a role in making sure that we do not revert back to the dark ages of medicine when people died from infections that are easily treated