Antibiotics: Introduction (Nursing)

00:01 Hi, and welcome to our video, an Introduction to Antibiotics.

00:05 Okay. When it comes down to antibiotics, it's us against them. And by "them," I mean bacteria.

00:13 So that's what we're going to talk about, how do we win the war against infection? Now, antibiotics are medications that are used to treat bacterial infections.

00:24 Yeah. Let me say that again.

00:26 Antibiotics are medications used to treat bacterial infections.

00:32 Viruses cannot be treated with antibiotics.

00:36 Now, every time we go to the doctor, people usually want to leave with some type of medication, but it's really important that only bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics, not viruses. Now, here's why.

00:49 You're going to see this ginormous chart come up to review, and I've listed the common reasons people go to the doctor.

00:56 But I want you to see which one are viruses and you'll notice in that far column, does an antibiotic needed? It's colored red and the word is "No." So a cold or a runny nose, no. Antibiotic is inappropriate.

01:10 A bronchitis, no. The flu, no.

01:14 A sore throat, except strep throat, no.

01:17 And fluid in the middle ear, like otitis media, the answer is still no.

01:22 Now let's talk about why that is such a big deal, but first, I want to show you lots of examples of bacterial infections that we do treat with antibiotics. In fact, I've listed so many of them for you, it's going to take 2 slides for you to see them.

01:38 I'm not expecting you to race through all these names, but spend a minute, pause, and see which one of these you've heard.

01:45 Put a small checkmark or circle the bugs that you're familiar with.

01:52 Ready for the second slide? Okay. Now let's talk about antibiotic resistance.

02:04 That's why it is so important that we only treat bacterial infections with antibiotics because if we misuse or overuse antibiotics, these bacteria are pretty smart.

02:16 They can develop the ability to defeat the drugs we designed to kill them, and we've seen it happen over and over again.

02:24 So, the number 1 reason we want to appropriately use antibiotics, only treat infections that should be treated with antibiotics -- they have to be bacterial -- is because if we misuse that, if we treat viruses with antibiotics, if we overuse antibiotics, these antibiotics are going to develop a resistance.

02:45 So that means we're going to start giving the drugs and the bugs know how to defeat that.

02:50 So let's walk through that. So how does antibiotic resistance happen? Well, the term "antibiotic resistance" means you've got an infection that becomes very, very difficult to treat.

03:01 When you're in your clinical rotations, 2 that you are likely to see are VRE and MRSA.

03:09 Now, VRE stands for Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus.

03:14 Yeah, that is a mouthful, isn't it? So vancomycin is the drug.

03:20 Resistant Enterococcus means we used to be able to treat the bug, Enterococcus, with vancomycin, but now it's become resistant.

03:30 Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or we also call that MRSA, that means that that is the bug, staphylococcus, that is now resistant to methicillin.

03:40 So MRSA and VRE are 2 really strong bugs that have become resistant to the drugs that used to treat them.

03:50 Well, let's talk about kind of how does that happen? Now, they've made a really cool drawing for you.

03:55 I love what they did with this drawing because it will really help you understand.

03:58 First of all, look at the colors of the circles.

04:01 There's green and it kind of progresses to a red color.

04:04 That means that the bugs themselves are getting increasingly resistant to drugs.

04:09 So see how that happens? You start with just kind of all variety, and they give you an antibiotic-- You come in with an infection, you receive an antibiotic, and then the antibiotic kills the non-resistant bacteria.

04:22 So we're moving from the gentleman in 1 to number 2.

04:25 Well, now that we've killed the non-resistant bacteria, the resistant bacteria like having a party because now they start to multiply.

04:35 Then that person spreads and infect -- a new person spreads that resistant bug to the next person, and now it's got -- the antibiotics fail to kill the resistant bacteria.

04:47 So, using those steps, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, that shows you how you go from having an infection, using an antibiotic, and how it can sometimes turn into antibiotic resistance.

05:01 Okay. Now I don't want to trip you out, but microorganisms, really, are everywhere.

05:06 I remember when I was in college, we used to share toothbrushes and drinks.

05:11 1 microbiology course cured me of those practices.

05:14 I don't drink after other people and I definitely don't share a toothbrush anymore because microorganisms are everywhere.

05:22 I try not to think about it when I'm pumping gas or using an ATM machine, because I know that those are really crazy places for bugs.

05:30 And especially, try not to think about it when I'm at the gym because I know what happens there, but that's a healthy habit, anyway.

05:37 But let's look at the microorganisms that are everywhere because bacteria, like we said, are everywhere: in the air, in the ground, in the water, and they're inside our body and definitely on our skin.

05:49 Now, not all bacteria are bad, but they multiply very rapidly under favorable conditions.

05:55 So remember, our body temperature is about 98.6 Fahrenheit.

05:59 That's pretty warm, and bacteria do very well at that temperature. They thrive.

06:05 Now, bacteria can be either really good, or really bad, or kind of innocuous. They're not a big deal at all, so they can either help us or really hurt us, or just kind of not bother us at all. We've got them all the way across the spectrum.

06:21 So, as we're entering into this discussion about antibiotics and how we treat infection, keep in mind, it's impossible to avoid bacteria completely.

06:30 They are everywhere. Some of them are fantastic for us.

06:34 Some of them are fantastically harmful to us, but they are everywhere.

06:38 So, what do we do? I mean, how -- Let's first talk about the good stuff.

06:42 Let's talk about how they can be beneficial to the body.

06:45 Well, E. coli, these are in the gut and they help with digestion.

06:49 So, E. coli in the GI tract, that's really good. We want it in the gut.

06:54 That helps us synthesize vitamin K.

06:57 They can also prevent harmful bacteria from taking hold because when I have bacteria that are good for me, like E. coli, they're taking up some real estate, they're taking up some space and the nutrients that the harmful bacteria need.

07:10 See, that was the problem. Sometimes, when we kill the resistant bacteria, that's how the other resistant bacteria kick in.

07:17 So, how do the good bacteria help us? They take up resources and space to prevent those resistant organisms from taking over.

07:26 Now, how can I defend myself against infection? Well, we're gonna talk about the physical barriers first.

07:33 Okay, so if my skin stays intact, that's a really good thing.

07:37 That's one of the great benefits of skin.

07:40 As long as it's not broken, it helps keep out a lot of nasty bugs.

07:44 I also have that cilia, right, in my respiratory mucosa.

07:48 They catch things and they can dump them down into your stomach.

07:50 That's a really good deal, because the gastric acid in my stomach will usually kill those bacteria.

07:58 So the first 2 host defenses we're talking about are physical barriers, like my skin and the cilia, and the physiological defenses, like the gastric acid in my stomach.

08:09 Now I've got a killer immune response. If I'm a healthy, functioning immune system, they do some really awesome stuff because the antibodies recognize that bacteria and they mark it for destruction.

08:22 Then the white blood cells get involved -- They come racing in, they're phagocytic -- that's a cool sounding word, right? Macrophages and the neutrophils, because the antibodies mark the bacteria, they make it a target, and the white blood cells know to rush in and to take care of them.