Surprises about antibiotic resistance uncovered
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - 09:21
in Health & Medicine
It's thought that antibiotic resistance is associated with a fitness cost, meaning that bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance must sacrifice something in order to do so. Because of this, proper use of antibiotics should result in susceptible strains eventually replacing resistant ones.< According to recent research, though, it appears that this paradigm might not be as solid as previously thought. In fact, antibiotic-resistant strains might also be fitter and more virulent, which may have profound impacts on the control and treatment of bacterial infections.