Author: Nneka Vivian Iduu, Graduate Research Assistant in Pathobiology, Auburn University

In the 20th century, when a routine infection was treated with a standard antibiotic, recovery was expected. But over time, the microbes responsible for these infections have evolved to evade the very drugs designed to eliminate them. Each year, there are more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States, leading to over 35,000 deaths and US$4.6 billion in health care costs. As antibiotics become less effective, antimicrobial resistance poses an increasing threat to public health. Antimicrobial resistance began to emerge as a serious threat in the 1940s with the rise of penicillin resistance. By the 1990s, it had…