Working Around the Impending Antibiotic Crisis

Abstract

Antibiotics are recent advancements of medical technology, but their misuse and overuse have given rise to a variety of problems related to bacteria evolving resistance to these miracle drugs. Unlike other medicinal drugs, antibiotics usage needs to be properly cared via the ideas of antibiotic stewardship for preserving their effectiveness for all members of the public, otherwise currently available drugs will lose their ability to combat illnesses. The supply shortage of viable antibiotic agents is also heightened by the expensive nature of conducting research and development necessary to identify new sources, and the economic unwillingness of most pharmaceutical companies to invest towards working on finding these new antimicrobials. Continuing down this path would lead to a post-antibiotic world that would not be favorable to the modern lifestyle of humankind. However, many opportunities still exist for working to preserve the efficacy of current antibiotics while supporting investments to develop new antibiotics, and this thesis highlights a number of suggestions for how people can work together towards ensuring that antibiotic agents are properly handled and cared for going into the future as well as some ideas that scientists can investigate for pursuing additional means of attacking bacterial infections.