What are the most common side effects of prolonged use of prescription antibiotics in humans?

RUNNING HEAD : Effects of Prolonged use of Antibiotics

Effects of Prolonged use of Antibiotics in Humans

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Abstract

The usefulness of antibiotics is indisputable , but that does not necessarily imply that these wonderful drugs possess no negative flip side . It has been demonstrated that antibiotics indiscriminately wipe out both normal and abnormal gastrointestinal and vulvo-vaginal flora The decimation of normal flora promotes the proliferation of yeast (mainly of the genus Candida . Antibiotic associated diarrhea has been linked to the growth of Clostridium

difficile : a bacterial species that only thrives in the absence of normal gastrointestinal flora . Human overuse as well as the widespread use of antibiotics in animal husbandry as growth promoters has been responsible for the co-resistance and cross resistance to multiple antibiotics . Even though the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance vary from one bacterial species to another , the main antibiotic resistance mechanism is through genetic antibiotic resistance mechanisms and horizontal transfer of resistance via plasmids . The net result is reduced effectiveness of antibiotics in the treatment and management of diseases of bacterial aetiology . This is a concise exposition of the effects of prolonged usage of antibiotics in humans drawing from a wide range of research data and presentations detailed in books , Ebsco Host database , the Internet as well as one-one in interviews with 5 physicians who have closely studied such impacts on pediatric patients

Introduction

Ever since the discovery of antibiotics and their usefulness in therapeutic interventions , they have risen to prominence owing...