ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE PATTERN OF MORAXELLA CATARRHALIS IN PATIENTS WITH RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS AT TAMALE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

The large majority of antibiotics currently used for treating infections and the antibiotic resistance genes acquired by human pathogens each have an environmental origin. Recent work indicates that the function of these elements in their environmental reservoirs may be very distinct from the “weapon-shield” role they play in clinical settings. Changes in natural ecosystems, including the release of large amounts of antimicrobials, might alter the population dynamics of microorganisms, including selection of resistance, with consequences for human health that are difficult to predict. Both antibiotic biosynthetic genes and resistance-conferring genes have been known to evolve many years ago, long before clinical use of antibiotics. Hence it appears that antibiotics and antibiotics resistance determinants have some other roles in nature, which often elude our attention because of overemphasis on the therapeutic importance of antibiotics and the crisis imposed by the antibiotic resistance in pathogens. In the natural milieu, antibiotics are often found to be present in sub-inhibitory concentrations acting as signaling molecules supporting the process of quorum sensing and biofilm formation. They also play an important role in the production of virulence factors and influence host–parasite interactions (e.g., phagocytosis, adherence to the target cell, and so on). The evolutionary and ecological aspects of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in the naturally occurring microbial community are little understood