Chapter 6, Problem 1CS

A 4-month-old infant had been running a moderate fever for 36 hours, and a nervous mother made a call to her pediatrician. Examination and tests revealed no outward signs of infection or cause of the fever. The anxious mother wanted a prescription for antibiotics, but the pediatrician recommended watching the infant for two days before making a decision. He explained that decades of rampant use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture has caused a global surge in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, drastically reducing the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy for infections. He pointed out that bacteria can exchange antibiotic resistance traits and that many pathogenic strains are now resistant to several antibiotics. The mother was not placated by these explanations and insisted that her baby receive antibiotics immediately. This situation raises several issues.

1. Was the pediatrician correct in stating that bacteria can exchange antibiotic resistance genes? If so, how is this possible?