Development of antimicrobial resistance: Future challenges

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The discovery of antibiotics has been one of the foremost medical advances of the 20th century. Antibiotics are essential components of medical practice used to treat, prevent, and control bacterial pathogens. Unfortunately the misuse and abuse of these “wonder” drugs has led to the development of multidrug-resistant organisms, which are very difficult to treat. Coincident with the increasing development of resistance is the decline in the development of new antibiotics by the pharmaceutical industry. The possibility of a “postantibiotic era” where bacterial infections will be untreatable may become real if international efforts do not come together to combat this complex problem. The present chapter will provide a general overview of antimicrobial resistance including a brief history of antibiotics, main mechanisms of resistance, “superbugs,” the spread of resistant genes in humans and nature, and antibiotics in the environment. New therapeutic approaches and alternatives to antibiotics will also be reviewed briefly