The antibiotic resistance trap
A free TEAS® biology explainer with an original practice question
Antibiotic resistance belongs to bacteria, not to people. A resistant infection is one caused by bacteria that the drug no longer kills or stops.
Resistance spreads by natural selection. An antibiotic kills the bacteria it works on, while any bacteria that already carry resistance survive and multiply, so the population shifts toward resistance. Bacteria can also pass resistance genes to one another.
On a question like this, ask which living thing changed and why. The patient's body did not become resistant; the bacterial population did.
Try a sample question
A classmate says a person is antibiotic resistant because their infection contains resistant bacteria. Which correction is most accurate?
- A.The person is resistant to the antibiotic
- B.The illness has made the person resistant
- C.The person and the bacteria are both resistant
- D.The bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic
Show the answer
D. The bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic
"The bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic" corrects the claim. The person is a trap. Resistance describes how the bacterial population responds to the drug, not a trait of the patient.
Why the other answers tempt:
- A. The bacteria, rather than the person, have the resistance.
- B. Antibiotic resistance here refers to the bacteria, not the host.
- C. The phrase describes the bacteria, not resistance of the host.
Antibiotics select resistant bacteria, not resistant people.
Checked against OpenStax Biology 2e, 22.4 Bacterial Diseases In Humans. Original question, not from a real test.
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