In 1967 a penicillin-resistant pneumonia, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and called pneumococcus, surfaced in a remote villa
ge in Papua, New Guinea. At about the same time American military personnel in southeast Asia were acquiring penicillin-resistant gonorrhea from prostitutes. By 1976, when the soldiers had come home, they brought the new strain of gonorrhea with them and physicians had to find new drugs to treat it.
In 1983 a hospital-acquired intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Enterococcus faecium joined the list of bacteria that could not be killed by penicillin.
Which of these BEST describes why certain bacteria have become resistant to penicillin?
A) The penicillin in the 1970's was much weaker that the penicillin used today, thus it was not as effective.
B) Penicillin was not effective in treating any bacterial diseases, so the doctors had to find new treatments.
C) These new bacterial strains came out of the jungles and forests already equipped to be penicillin-resistant.
D) Penicillin was so heavily prescribed by doctors that it led to certain, more fit, strains of bacteria to be able to survive.
2)
D. Penicillin was so heavily prescribed by doctors that it led to certain, more fit, strains of bacteria to be able to survive.
Explanation:
Researchers thought penicillin was the cure for all, and thus it became overused. Through natural selection, new, stronger strains of bacteria developed.
