The world is facing an ever-increasing threat from bacteria evolving resistance to known antibiotics, rendering the essential drugs ineffective. But now, researchers are exploring promising new treatment strategies, with the aim of making those resistant bacteria susceptible to drugs once more.
The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been dubbed the "silent pandemic" due to its stealthy global spread and lack of urgent public attention, in comparison to other pandemics such as COVID-19, especially in regions where antibiotic use remains largely unchecked. Estimates from a 2019 report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that resistant bacteria killed at least 1.27 million people worldwide that year, with 35,000 of those deaths occurring in the U.S. alone. That marked a 52% increase in U.S. deaths from resistant microbes since the CDC's previous report in 2013.
