Modeling and simulation of the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics

Abstract

The unnecessary use of antibiotics has given rise to antibiotic resistance and for this reason is a cause of growing concern in contemporary health care contexts. Antibiotic resistance means that an antibiotic is losing or has lost the ability to kill a given bacteria and/or to prevent it from reproducing. The result: an increase in the number of patients suffering from and even dying of infections. Resistant bacteria continue to increase in number, as they survive the antibiotic designed and used to kill them. The disease induced by the bacteria lasts longer, therefore, than would have been the case were the bacteria not antibiotic resistant. Thus, prolonged treatment and/or even death results together with an increase in cost associated with these outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactions among the bacteria, immune system cells, and antibiotics in a Repast Simphony 2.1 agent-based simulation environment modeled to observe the effects of the antibiotic resistance in the infection process. According to our results, increased antibiotic resistance constitutes a serious threat to the success of established methods used in the treatment of bacterial infections.