Antibiotic resistance is rendering once life-saving drugs useless. Could we reverse this?

The world faces an increasing threat from bacteria that are developing resistance to known antibiotics, rendering important medicines ineffective. But now researchers are exploring promising new treatment strategies with the goal of making these resistant bacteria responsive to drugs again.

The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is referred to as “silent pandemic“due to its slow global spread and lack of urgent public attention compared to other pandemics such as COVID-19especially in regions where antibiotic use remains largely uncontrolled. Estimates from a 2019 report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that resistant bacteria killed at least 1.27 million people worldwide this year, including 35,000 in the United States alone. This represents a 52% increase in deaths from resistant microbes in the United States since Previous CDC report from 2013.