There has been a flood of microorganisms that are drug resistant in the last few years. This means that the microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists) can withstand the effects of antibiotic treatment. But how does this happen, you ask.
The reason that microorganisms become drug resistant is that people stop taking their medicine before the infection is completely cleared, usually because they feel better. What actually happens is that not all of the “bugs” die, usually the weaker ones do, but the stronger ones don’t. Through natural selection (weeding out the weaker microorganisms), you are creating “super bugs” that are resistant to usual antibiotic treatments. This is particularly common in bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae (the leading cause of pneumonia) , and Staphylococcus aureus (the leading cause of staph infections), among others. This is the reason that it is EXTREMELY important that you take the full amount of medication prescribed by your physician for an infection of any kind, be it strep throat, or a urinary tract infection. You do not want to breed “super germs” in your own body.
