Twilight of the Antibiotics Era: A New Challenge for Humanity
Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives – yet we take them for granted. Today, antibiotic-resistant infections kill up to 100,000 patients in American hospitals annually, 80,000 in China, and 25,000 in Europe and by 2050, infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics are projected to kill up to 10 million people globally every year – more than cancer. The fact that many bacteria have adapted to treatments is the result of the uncontrolled use of antibiotics ‘to treat the common cold’, as well as their use in the manufacture of cosmetics, farming products, and supposed ‘preventative measures’, while many pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to invest in developing new generations of antibiotics, citing low rates of return. What must be done to counter this new threat, and could viruses be instrumental in the battle against bacteria? Do new kinds of infection and antibiotic resistance pose a real risk to the average person? What should the state do to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to produce new generations of antibiotics? How can the use of antibiotics be brought under control? What further steps should be taken to prevent the spread of infectious diseases?