Irrational prescriptions are a major global health problem. The World Health Organisation estimates that more than half of all medicines are inappropriately prescribed, dispensed or sold.
Two-thirds of children have already received antibiotics by the time they are one year old.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 and revolutionised the treatment of bacterial infections. Ever since then we have been searching for new antibiotics.
Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria change in a way that prevents the antibiotic from working in its normal manner. There are several ways in which this can happen.
Everyone says the solution to antibiotic-resistant superbugs is to use antibiotics less often – but it’s not happening.
Penn State/Flickr
Here are highlights from The Conversation US’ coverage of antibiotics and how scientists are trying to combat resistant bacteria.
They might look like an alien species, but these bacteria-eating viruses could be the next big thing in the fight against infectious diseases.
nobeastsofierce/Shutterstock
Many people in the U.S. have no idea that TB is still found here, or what a major health risk it poses in other parts of the world.
A quantum dot: A high-resolution transmission electron micrograph of cadmium telluride nanoparticles. (The scale bar in the lower right is 2 nanometers long, or two millionths of a millimeter.)
Nagpal Group, University of Colorado
Quantum dots - minuscule semiconductor particles with specific light-absorption properties - can kill drug-resistant superbugs without harming the surrounding healthy tissue.
Antibiotics can help, but at lower doses and shorter durations than doctors tend to prescribe.
Acne via www.shutterstock.com.
While antibiotics can kill the bacteria associated with acne, it’s their anti-inflammatory effects, not their antimicrobial effects, that yield the biggest skin-clearing benefits.