Antimicrobial resistance: Why our medicines may stop working

In 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming revolutionised the world of medicine when he discovered penicillin.

After leaving an untidy workspace while he went on holiday, he returned to find one of his Petri dishes contaminated with mould.

Fleming noticed that in the areas surrounded by the fungus, another bacteria called staphylococcus had failed to grow.

Thanks to the work of two other scientists, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, the bacteria-killing compound in this fungus was then purified and made into one of the first antibiotics in the world. 

Penicillin, along with many other antibiotics that have been developed since, has turned once potentially life-threatening diseases into easily-treatable conditions, but almost 100 years on, we are now faced with a new problem.

These ‘wonder drugs’ are slowly losing their potency.

A deadly threat, with what solutions?

This phenomenon is referred to as antimicrobial resistance, although it’s important to note that this term doesn’t just refer to antibiotics, but also to antivirals, antiparasitics, and antifungals.

In 2019, the World Health Organization declared antimicrobial resistance one of the top 10 public health threats facing humanity, and in the same year, drug-resistant infections killed at least 1.27 million people worldwide.

If resistance continues to grow, this figure could rise to 10 million deaths a year by 2050, a death toll higher than the current number of people dying from cancer.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs naturally as microorganisms change and adapt to their environment, but this phenomenon is mainly being accelerated because of the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs.

When you are given an effective course of this medication, it will kill the germs that are making you ill, but resistant germs can find ways to survive and multiply as they adapt to the pressured situation.

On top of this, the drug battling your illness will not only kill the bad microorganisms but also the good ones, meaning there is less competition for the malignant microbes that may be left.

Doctors are trained only to prescribe medication when necessary, and they tell patients not to share or save drugs, because they know that the risk of antimicrobial resistance is increased each time this type of medicine is used.

Practising good hygiene and sanitation is also crucial to battling superbugs as if infections are prevented in the first place, the fewer antimicrobial drugs will be prescribed.

Experts have similarly raised warnings about the cleanliness of hospitals, farms, and sewage-treatment plants, which can be breeding grounds for dangerous pathogens.

To find out more about antimicrobial resistance and potential solutions, watch our video above.