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In the absence of antibiotic treatment, is there a reduction in the average severity of disease caused by resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria compared to wild-type ones?

I would assume that bacteria that have adapted to be able to withstand antibiotics would have to allocate extra resources in order to counter the antibiotics, making them perhaps less growth-efficient than the "original" (non-resistant) strain.

arboviral
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Giulio Crisanti
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  • This question is rather vague and unclear, and cannot be succinctly answered in its present state. There are a very large number of pathogenic bacteria (let alone other microbes), a large number of antibiotics, and a multiplicity of routes to antibiotic resistance. Please [edit] your post to focus on a single strain of bacteria and preferentially a single type of antibiotic. From the [help/dont-ask]: Your questions should be reasonably scoped. If you can imagine an entire book that answers your question, you’re asking too much. – MattDMo Jun 20 '16 at 01:26
  • I've edited it slightly to narrow the scope; I think it is answerable now (and I'll have a go at answering it if I have time later). It's arguably a duplicate of this, though: http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/14350/can-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-compete-with-normal-one-in-an-antibiotic-free?rq=1 – arboviral Jun 20 '16 at 07:49

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