Question

Which example below presents a misconception about how antibiotic resistance develops?

a. Individual bacteria and viruses become immune to antibiotics after they are exposed to them. Eventually the antibiotics are useless.
b. Antibiotics are often added to livestock feed. This selects for antibiotic resistance in bacteria found in and around livestock facilities. Thus, many meat products sold in supermarkets contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
c. Heavy use of antibiotics in hospitals produces selection pressure for antibiotic resistance in resident bacterial populations.
d. If people do not take the full antibiotic treatment as prescribed, some microbes carrying the potential for resistance will survive and prosper.

Answer 1

Option (a) presents a misconception by implying that individual bacteria and viruses can become immune to antibiotics, whereas resistance actually develops through the natural selection of resistant bacteria, not individual immunity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The misconception about how antibiotic resistance develops is presented in option (a): Individual bacteria and viruses become immune to antibiotics after they are exposed to them. Eventually the antibiotics are useless. This statement is incorrect because it suggests that individual bacteria and viruses can become immune, which implies a conscious adaptation. In reality, antibiotic resistance occurs through the natural selection of resistant variants within a bacterial population, not by individual organisms acquiring immunity.

On the contrary, the other options (b, c, and d) describe scenarios that can contribute to the selection of resistant bacteria. Antibiotics added to livestock feed (option b), heavy use of antibiotics in hospitals (option c), and the incomplete antibiotic treatment by people (option d) are all practices that can foster the proliferation of resistant bacteria due to the selective pressure they place on bacterial populations.