Question

Highlight the “real world”significance/importance of the process of identifying unknown bacteria.You should specifically address the importance of the identification process in your future professional career.

Answer 1

The importance of the process of identification of unknown bacteria are

1. Interpretation of antibiotic susceptibility testing depends on identification. Two different bacteria may give the same values on this test, but the definitions of susceptible and resistant are different in different species.
2. Some species can be notoriously difficult to eradicate by treatment, and require long term use of antibiotics. Without identifying the pathogen, it is very difficult to predict.
3. Some species are intrinsically resistant to certain antibiotics. In such isolates, even if the susceptibility testing results suggest that the organism is sensitive to the antibiotic in question, that antibiotic will be useless in treatment. So, certain antibiotics are automatically reported as resistant in such cases. Without knowing the identity of the isolate, such predictions are impossible.

Some species of bacteria are notoriously virulent, and may require more aggressive treatment, including combination antibiotic therapy or management in an intensive care. Obviously, this can’t be done unless you know the identity of the bacterial pathogen that you’re targetting.Coming to infectious disease if one knows what type of bacterium it is then more is known about it and hence a better treatment plan can be developed. It would be terrific if every infection were cultured and then tested with the most narrow spectrum antibiotic possible to prevent the collateral damage of other bacteria in/on you as well as selecting for those who are resistant to antibiotics which currently are used indiscriminately. At present broad spectrum antibiotics are prescribed without initially typing the bacteria’s sensitivity/resistance to antibiotics, and this is the worst possible scenario