Chapter 13 - This is a required lab for the class. PDF

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This is a required lab for the class....

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“Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria” Chapter 13 Lab Exercise individual, 20 points Please read Chapter 13 of What is Life? A Guide to Biology before beginning this lab. The purpose of this lab exercise is to gain a better understanding of the biology of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the role of antibiotics to control and treat these bacteria. For this lab exercise, watch the Frontline video “Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria” (approx. 55 minutes). After watching the video, answer the following questions. Use the video and also your own opinion/experience to answer the questions. 1. Addie is a young girl who is made sick by an antibiotic resistant bacterium. From where do doctors believe she contracted the bacterium? Community associated MSRA. She was picking at her scabs. What was her major treatment? ECMO At the end of the video, is Addie cured? Yes, by the end of the video Addie is cured. What is her future? She will have to take many pills and she is still not in the clear of being fully healthy. 2. Another person who almost died from an infection with an antibiotic resistant bacterium was David. Where and how did David contract the bacterium? David contracted the bacteria from slums in India and he was hit by a train. What was his major treatment? Doctors had to cut of part of his leg. Is David cured? Yes, David is cured he lost his leg.

What is his future? There is a possibility that the virus could come back, doctors don’t have enough experience to be certain. 3. From a business/economic standpoint, how are antibiotic drugs different from drugs to treat high cholesterol or high blood pressure? Explain. In the future drugs to treat things such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure will still work while antibiotic drugs will stop working. 4. The journalist interviews people from the NIH hospital in Bethesda, Maryland about the outbreak of KPC. What is KPC? Klebsiella Pneumoniae Carbapenemase Do the experts think KPC is gone/eliminated from the hospital? Why or why not? No, an outbreak spread to people who were in the ICU and then beyond to the general population. 5. What is the effect of the overuse of antibiotics in the human population? Explain The more that the antibiotics are exposed to a bacteria, the greater the likelihood that resistance to that antibiotic is going to develop. Does this have an effect on you and me? Yes, the more that people use antibiotics the less effective they will become for us in the future. Do antibiotics directly treat a viral infection? No, antibiotics do not directly treat viral infections. What is the difference between a bacterial infection and a viral infection? Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria and viral infections are caused by viruses. The main difference between the two is that bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics and viral infections cannot. 6. From the video, why are drug companies pulling out of the research and development of new antibiotics? Explain. They do not make much money and the antibiotics do not always work so companies do not want to waste the money. How much money (average) does it cost a company to research and develop one antibiotic drug and bring it to market? It can cost up to 1 billion dollars

How does the number of companies today researching and developing antibiotic drugs compare with 50 years ago? Why? Companies are moving away from the production of antibiotics because they aren’t making very much money, compared to 50 years ago companies didn’t realize that antibiotics would stop working with time. 7. Should the US government (or any government) get into the research and development of new antibiotics? Why or why not? Yes, because they have been proven to be helpful. What is your opinion? I believe that the government should do whatever it takes to help someone who is sick. 8. Some doctors in the film state that antibiotic resistant bacteria are a public health problem and ask “who is in charge?” Who should be “in charge”? No one is in charge, all of the federal agencies need to setup a comprehensive plan to attack this problem. Does the US (or other governments) have a plan to deal with this health problem? No, nobody has a comprehensive plan to attack this problem. Does the World Health Organization have a plan? No, they do not have a plan. What is your opinion? People need to know when they need to use antibiotics and the government needs to setup a plan to attack antibiotic resistant bacteria. 9. What can you and I do to help with this problem? Is there anything we can do? Explain. We can limit the use of antibiotics to only when they are needed in order to make them last longer and for us to not become immune to them. How to submit this lab exercise: Submit this lab exercise as a Word document or PDF. This lab exercise is worth 20 points. Check the syllabus for the closing date....