World Health Day: "The world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era"

Last summer, I had a little taste of antibiotic resistance when a typical case of strep throat was not remedied by the usual course of amoxicillin. The doctors scrambled to use other antibiotics as an abscess then developed. It was gnarly, and I was scared.

Today is World Health Day. The World Health Organization is using today to highlight a very real problem we are facing: antibiotic resistance. ScienceBlogs reports:

The development and widespread use of antibiotics counts as a public health triumph, as infections that once routinely killed large numbers of people became much easier to treat. That triumph can be undone, though. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan warns, "In the absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated."

Those who've become infected with an antibiotic-resistant bacteria probably already know that we have a problem, because their illnesses tend to be longer and more severe. Some of these patients are cured by other antibiotics, which are often more expensive and can bring worse side effects. Some die.

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