Question

why do resistant strains of bacteria more often develop in hospitals rather then in homes

Answer 1

Hospitals are institutions where care is provided for sick people for large number of people whereas in home the number of people is restricted to a maximum or 6 to 10 members. Patients who are sick gets treated in the hospital by respective antibiotics and improper usage of antibiotics will cause emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In homes, even if the people use antibiotic improperly the impact of it or its emergence will not be as effective as in hospitals because we get to find many immunocompromised patients there whose immune system is already weak.

How does this happen?

• When a patient who is already infected by a drug resistant pathogen gets treated in a hospital, the probability of its transmission is greater by either direct contact or through air or through indirect contact. Since patients are mostly weak, the pathogens tend to spread easily.
• Another reason for transmission can be the health care providers who do not follow health care measures properly such as hand washing, etc.
• Improper medication like patients not taking the full course of mediaction or those who cannot afford to medication can also lead to emergence of drug resistant pathogens.
• hospitals are already sites for nosocomial infections and it increases the risk of people for acquiring infectons from the hospital.
• the drug resistant pathogens acquire the resistance by a change in their genetic makeup due to mutation. More than intrinsic drug resistance, acquired resistance evolve from hospitals. MRSA, VRE, etc are examples for it.

Outbreak with drug resistant infections are difficult for treating and leading to high mortality.

So immune suppressed or immune compromised peoples in close proximity in an hospital are grounds for the emergence of drug resistant bacteria and its transmission. Its impact is high and difficult to treat.