Antibiotic Resistance: A Global Problem and the Need to Do More

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Abstract
The discovery of penicillin in 1928 and its initial use in the 1940s to treat serious infections marked a turning point in modern medicine saving millions of lives [ 1]. However, antibiotic resistance (AR) has long threatened the advances of modern medicine. Widespread use of penicillin in clinical therapy started in 1943, and a decade later penicillin resistance had already become a major clinical problem [ 2]. This same phenomenon has been seen with each new antibiotic that has been approved for clinical use. A landmark study recently published showed that in 2019 AR killed more people than any other infectious diseases including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and malaria [ 3]. One in 8 deaths globally are linked to bacterial infections, the second leading cause of death after ischemic heart disease [ 4].

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