Part 2-Question 4.Could resistance arise to vancomycin?
I Did some research and discovered that Vancomycin resistance can be caused by an altered peptidoglycan terminus resulting in reduced vancomycin binding and failure to prevent cell wall synthesis. Resistance in vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus and glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus may be due to the production of abnormal peptides (“false binding sites”) in the cell wall that bind vancomycin and prevent its attachment to its receptor or possibly to an increase of peptidoglycan resulting in thickened cell walls. A form of resistance is seen in S. pneumoniae by a unique mutation in the sensor-response system that controls autolysin activity necessary to kill certain bacteria.
So in layman terms for me yes, any and all antibiotics are subject to or could potentially have resistant strains that may arise. Mutations in the bacterial genome could cause structural changes that would cause the antibiotic to be essentially useless.
How do I respond to this statement?