Battle Against the Unseen: Antimicrobial Resistance

Abstract

Antimicrobial agents have been vital to cure communicable diseases. The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, a mechanism by which the microbes are no longer affected by the antimicrobial agents, has limited our treatment options and health outcomes. Often referred to as “superbugs” the infections associated with the drug-resistant microbes have already affected millions of lives and is projected to cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050, if appropriate measures are not taken. Antimicrobial resistance is, therefore, a major global public health threat ahead of us. This viewpoint presents an overview of antimicrobial resistance with focus on emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance and appropriate measures to be taken at individual and community level to combat it.