Overview
The rise of antibiotic resistance has sparked a global health crisis, with the World Health Organization (WHO) warning that we are on the cusp of a post-antibiotic era. As of 2020, antibiotic-resistant infections claim over 700,000 lives annually, with this number projected to soar to 10 million by 2050 if left unchecked. The development of new antibiotics has slowed significantly since the 1980s, with only a handful of new classes introduced in the past few decades. Meanwhile, the overuse and misuse of existing antibiotics in human medicine and agriculture have accelerated the emergence of resistant bacteria. Researchers like Dr. Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin in 1928, and Dr. Selman Waksman, who coined the term 'antibiotic' in 1942, have played pivotal roles in our understanding of antibiotics. The influence of pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and Merck, and organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO, will be crucial in shaping the future of antibiotic development and resistance mitigation strategies.