Superbugs

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem. For thousands of years, antibiotics were a resource only available to the microbes that produced them. However, scientific research of these incredible products revealed them to be invaluable in the treatment of some bacterial infections. Again, for thousands of years, people were only able to pray that the illnesses they suffered from would pass before they caused too much damage. The discovery of antibiotics promised a revolutionary new way to treat illnesses. However, doctors started prescribing medications without understanding the consequences of overusing these miracle drugs.

Bacteria mutate quickly and often. When antibiotics are thrown into the picture, this creates a perfect storm of selective pressures that select for the strongest and most durable bacteria. Put a different way, when antibiotics are used “inappropriately”, they can kill off the least fit, or weakest, bacteria, until only the strongest remain. Essentially, using antibiotics when they are not needed can select for stronger bacteria that is harder to kill. These kinds of microorganisms are known as superbugs. They are often multi-drug resistant, and because we have been relying on the same antibiotics for a very long time, as microorganisms are becoming resistant to more and more antibiotics, we are running out of treatment options for people who contract these superbugs.

However, the problem gets even scarier when you consider the implications for pharmaceutical companies. Now that doctors are aware that overprescribing antibiotics is leading to drug-resistance, they are (rightfully) recommending antibiotic use more sparingly. However, as less and less antibiotics are being used, this does not provide pharmaceutical companies with much of an incentive to a) produce antibiotics and b) conduct research to find new ones. Companies that were happy to produce products that were used freely and often are not quite as motivated to make products that are only used when there is no other option. Furthermore, when microbes develop resistance to these drugs, they become irrelevant, and all the research into and production of that drug is rendered completely useless. The combined effect of the issues is leading pharmaceutical companies to terminate their antibiotic departments and discontinue research on antibiotics in fear of wasting time and resources. This obviously creates a problem: what would the world look like if all pharmaceutical companies followed suit?

Growing antibiotic resistance threatens to take life back to the way it was a hundred years ago before we even knew about antibiotics. Once again, simple Staphylococcus aureus infections could have the potential to kill, and doctors would be powerless to stop them. This sounds like an awful and terrifying way to live, so it is imperative that companies keep investigating new ways to fight off microbial infections so this world doesn’t become a reality.