This exam tips covers Preventing Antibiotic Resistance within Antibiotics and Drug Resistance for GCSE Biology. Antibiotic function, bacterial resistance evolution, responsible use, global health impact It is section 7 of 18 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
Preventing Antibiotic Resistance
Individual Actions:
- Complete the course: Always finish prescribed antibiotics, even if feeling better
- Don't share: Never share antibiotics with others
- Don't save: Don't keep leftover antibiotics for future use
- Don't pressure doctors: Accept that viral infections don't need antibiotics
- Practice hygiene: Prevent infections through good hand hygiene
Healthcare Measures:
- Appropriate prescribing - only when necessary
- Infection control measures in hospitals
- Rapid diagnostic tests to identify bacterial vs viral infections
- Surveillance of resistance patterns
- Isolation of patients with resistant infections
Agricultural Controls:
- Reduce antibiotic use in livestock
- Ban growth-promoting antibiotics in animal feed
- Improve animal welfare to reduce disease
- Alternative disease prevention strategies
Practice questions for Antibiotics and Drug Resistance
What do antibiotics kill or stop growing?
Explain how antibiotic resistance develops in bacteria through natural selection. (3 marks)
Quick recall flashcards
Why do antibiotics NOT work against viruses?
Antibiotics target bacterial cell walls and bacterial processes.
Viruses do not have cell walls and use the host cell's own machinery to reproduce.
There is nothing for the antibiotic to target in a virus.
What are antibiotics and what do they target?
Antibiotics are chemicals that kill bacteria or stop them from growing.
They target structures that bacteria have but human cells do not, such as cell walls.
Examples: penicillin, amoxicillin, streptomycin.