The Antibiotic Crisis : Methods to Circumvent Resistance and Ways to Move Forward

Abstract

The human race is in the midst of a major crisis, the antibiotic resistance crisis. Due to inappropriate prescribing, overuse in agriculture, and the transfer of resistance genes through the environment, resistance has now been seen to almost all available antibiotics, and the world has entered into a “post antibiotic era.” In this time of crisis, it is imperative that legislative, environmental, and stewardship measures be taken in order to prevent further emergence of antibiotic resistance. To move forward from our antibiotic calamity, new methods to approaching bacterial infections must be established. The development of new antibiotics will be negated if resistance continues at its current rate, and as a result evolutionary steering has emerged to aid in maintaining the efficacy of the antibiotics already developed. Additionally, the advent of anti-virulence therapy and the resurgence of bacteriophage therapy mark a new era of therapeutic options for bacterial infection. Together, enhanced methods to circumvent antibiotic resistance and new ways to move forward could be the cure to our antibiotic resistance crisis.