The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

194 medical professionals should treat the multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria problem like a pest infestation by systematically seeking and destroying sources of the bacteria before they spread (13). Better hospital sanitation protocol and policies are his proposed solution, and he has good reason. Recent statistics show that “health care- associated infections develop in approximately 10% of hospitalized patients, and the cost of treating these infections amounts to $4 to $11 billion annually,” and they are usually acquired from various medical instruments (Lilley et al 586). Lilley et al also goes on to report that at least 70% of hospital related infections are avoidable (586). Since so many antibiotic resistant infections spread in a hospital setting, eliminating bacteria’s ability to transfer from patient to patient would choke off an infection’s growth and solve a majority of the problem. While this approach does not help patients who have already contracted an infection, it does prevent future problems. If professionals perfectly execute this plan, it could even eliminate much of the need for antibiotics in the first place. This solution would require some practical research on how infections spread in the hospital in order to find out where the focus needs to be on preventing transfer of microbes. One example of this already happening is a study done by Usha, Kumar, and Gopal in which they discovered MDR bacteria in hospital sewage (45). This raises the need for better sterilization of sewage before it is released from the hospital. Besides creating new protocol, this preventative solution could also require more training for medical professionals and potentially necessitate more personnel to oversee implementation of stricter policies. All of these steps would cost money and possibly inconvenience hospital staff, but together they are a very practical and simple solution to limit the spread of any type of bacteria and reduce the need for antibiotics, which would ultimately save lives and money. Another potential solution to resistant bacteria that is very practical and would save lives is to avoid overprescribing antibiotics and only use them when absolutely necessary. Ever since antibiotic medication became available, many doctors have gotten into the habit of playing it safe and prescribing antibiotics to any patient whose illness they thought might possibly be rooted in bacteria. Although this practice does help many patients recover more quickly, it greatly increases the amount of antibiotics in use