The Patient Asks the Pharmacist How Bacteria Become Resistant to Antibiotics

The patient asks the pharmacist how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. What should the pharmacist include in the response? (Select all that apply.) Note: Credit will be given only if all correct choices and no incorrect choices are selected.

A) The longer an antibiotic is used in the population and the more often it is prescribed, the higher will be the percentage of resistant strains.
B) Prematurely stopping antibiotic therapy allows some pathogens to survive and become resistant to antibiotics.
C) Bacteria reproduce quickly, and can have a variation in the genetic code that allows them to become resistant.
D) Frequent handwashing by health care providers encourages the spread of bacteria to many patients receiving antibiotics in the hospital.
E) Organisms do not grow resistant to medications.