It’s hard to believe that one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. used to be routine infections picked up from something as minor as a scratch. But prior to the discovery of antibiotics, that was the case. Since then medical science has developed a host of antibiotics which, together with clean water and vaccines, have probably saved more lives than just about anything else we’ve ever undertaken. But microbes evolve too, and because they reproduce so quickly and often harbor tremendous genetic diversity, they can evolve fast. A sort of arms race has ensued between us and them, and at least one bug may be winning:
For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could signal "the end of the road" for antibiotics.
Health officials said the case in Pennsylvania, by itself, is not cause for panic. The strain found in the woman is treatable with some other antibiotics. But researchers worry that the antibiotic-resistant gene found in the bacteria, known as mcr-1, could spread to other types of bacteria that can already evade other types of antibiotics.
The linked article notes that in this isolated case, there are some options for this patient. But it’s a sobering reminder of what could be in store if we don't adequately fund this microcosmic war: You cannot build a wall against bacteria, or scare them off with bravado and military displays, and more Americans die from infectious disease than are killed by terrorists by orders of magnitude.