Health care professionals are seeing increased instances of bacterial infections that do not respond to standard treatments. The infections are caused by bacterial "superbugs" that cannot be killed by standard means. Which of the following has led to this development?

a. Overuse of antibiotics

b. Underuse of vaccines

c. ineffective use of disinfectants

d. inadequate hygiene practices

A

Explanation:

Bacteria are treated using antibiotics. Antibiotics disrupts their ability to reproduce, allowing the body's immune system to eradicate the bacteria quickly.

However, if antibiotic treatment is not completed fully, some bacteria may survive the antibiotic treatment and develop immunity due to certain bacteria accumulating enough mutations or undergoing homologous recombination of antibiotic resistant genes from other bacteria strains, causing resultant bacteria to be resistant to that particular type of antibiotic. As time progresses and the types of antibiotic used differs in strength and type, the cycle repeats and the final resultant strain of bacteria is one that is considered a superbug whereby antibiotics are no longer efficient to help the body eradicate the bacteria.