The end of antibiotics?

Antibiotics as we know them today, have only been around for close to one hundred years.  They were once heralded as a key to end all disease, but we may soon discover that our use/overuse of antibiotics have become a Pandora’s box. Overtime, bacteria become more resistant to our current arsenal of antibiotics.  By treating infections with antibiotics we ensure that only the strongest and most resistant variants survive.  This leads to stronger and stronger strains of bacteria reproducing.  This cycle requires constant development of stronger and strong antibiotics which in turn ensure that over time we will eliminate all but the most resistant and un-treatable strains of bacteria.

It has been a growing concern that we might reach a point where common antibiotics become completely ineffective, and we are left only with powerful antibiotics that have serious side effects.  Eventually even our most power antibiotics will become useless.

If this sounds slightly alarmists, it might be.  Instead of just trying to fight off minor infections, more and more people are going to the doctor at the first signs of feeling bad.  Doctors prescribe antibiotics, and with prices are so low today, with many antibiotics showing up on $5 plans, most patients have little incentive to not purchase and take the drugs.  As we essentially over medicate ourselves with antibiotics we move closer and closer to a day when they will fail us all-together.

So, has this made you twice about rushing off to the doctor for another round of antibiotics?

Further reading : The Guardian : The era of antibiotics is coming to a close. In just a couple of generations, what once appeared to be miracle medicines have been beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were designed to knock out. Once, scientists hailed the end of infectious diseases. Now, the post-antibiotic apocalypse is within sight.