What example is given for antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance is a critical issue in healthcare, and MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, exemplifies this problem well. MRSA is a strain of the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium that has gained resistance to methicillin and other antibiotics, leading to challenging infections that are harder to treat. This resistance occurs due to genetic mutations and the ability of bacteria to acquire resistance genes from other bacteria. The increasing prevalence of MRSA in hospitals and communities highlights the public health threat it poses, as standard antibiotic treatments become ineffective, requiring alternative and often more costly treatment strategies.

In contrast, the other options represent either non-bacterial pathogens or strains that are not primarily known for antibiotic resistance. Streptococcus, for instance, includes groups that can be treated with antibiotics, and Escherichia coli, while it can show resistance in specific strains, is not as widely recognized as a primary example of antibiotic resistance as MRSA. HIV is a virus and not treated with antibiotics, making it a different category altogether. Thus, MRSA stands out as the quintessential example of antibiotic resistance in bacterial infections.