Bacteria developing the ability to withstand effects of antibiotics due to overuse is called?

• A. Antibiotics
• B. Bacterial resistance
• C. Antimicrobial tolerance
• D. Antibiotic resistance

Answer: (D)

Antibiotic resistance is when bacteria acquire changes that allow them to survive exposure to antibiotics that would normally kill them or stop their growth. This happens through mutations or by obtaining resistance genes that alter drug targets, produce enzymes that inactivate the drug, or pump the drug out of the cell. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics create selection pressure: sensitive bacteria are killed, while resistant ones survive and multiply, spreading resistance genes through the population. This is why the term antibiotic resistance is the precise description of the phenomenon. The other phrases are less accurate: bacterial resistance is vague, antimicrobial tolerance refers to surviving transient exposure without growing, and antibiotics are the drugs themselves, not the process.