Antibiotics: solving an evolving problem

The death of a 70-year-old woman in Nevada, US, in September 2016 was a tragedy for the whole world, because of what it warns us about the future for antibiotics. She died after being treated for a hip injury in India and then getting a bacterial infection that drugs couldn’t fight off. Later tests showed the germ involved could survive 26 different antibiotic types.

This patient is not alone in facing bacteria that survive antibiotic treatment, an ability known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In 2016, the UK’s AMR review, led by Lord O’Neill, found that drug-resistant infections already cause around 700,000 deaths worldwide each year. It also predicted this could rise to 10 million deaths a year globally by 2050.

Find out how chemists are battling antimicrobial resistant – includes curriculum-linked resources to use in your classroom.