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In 2015, the World Health Organization warned that we are heading toward a "post-antibiotic era," when more people will die from common infections.
In India alone, there is an estimated 58,000 infants who have died because of a single resistant infection in just one year.
The CDC estimates 23,000 people die in the US in 2014 because of drug resistance.Doctor Michael Bell says the problem is huge.
For the longest time we've had a number of different antibiotics in the pipeline at any given time, so whenever we ran out of the ability to use one, we would move to the next one. Unfortunately, right now the number of antibiotics in the pipeline is essentially zero.
Bacteria are constantly evolving. So those survived the drugs designed to kill them reproduce. That's normal. And antibiotics themselves do not cause resistence,but improper antibiotics is one of the key drivers for the development of antibiotic-resistant germs.
To make matters worse,most people don't understand that antibiotics can be effective only against bacterial infections, not for virus like the flu or cold.
To resolve the crisis, scientist are working on developing new drugs.But more crucially right now is saving what we have.
A CDC study found US hospitals were prescribing stronger antibiotics and more drugs than necessary. The agency asked hospital practitioners to be more careful in prescribing antibiotics. The CDC is also looking at the causes of infections.
Antibiotic resistance is being generated by not only using too many antibiotics,but also, by spread of infection by lack of hygiene, from unintended contact with soiled surfaces, so the infection control side is equally important.
Individuals can also help. On its website, the CDC tells people to take all antibiotics as prescribed and to finish the course of the drugs, even if they feel better.
Still, urgent action on a global level is needed to prevent the catastrophe that a post-antibiotic era would cause.
