How Often Are Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Said to "Evolve" in the News?

ABSTRACT: Media plays an important role in informing the general public about scientific ideas. We examine whether the word "evolve," sometimes considered controversial by the general public, is frequently used in the popular press. Specifically, we ask how often articles discussing antibiotic resistance use the word "evolve" (or its lexemes) as opposed to alternative terms such as "emerge" or "develop." We chose the topic of antibiotic resistance because it is a medically important issue; bacterial evolution is a central player in human morbidity and mortality. We focused on the most widely-distributed newspapers written in English in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, and Australia. We examined all articles that focused primarily on the evolution of antibiotic resistance, were publi

SUBMITTER: Singh N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4775048 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature