title: The beginning of the end of the antibiotic era? Part I. The problem: abuse of the "miracle drugs".
abstract: The antibiotic era began in the early 1940s with the clinical use of penicillin. Subsequent discovery, development, and clinical use of other antibiotics resulted in effective therapy against major bacterial pathogens. These drugs were so effective that bacterial infectious diseases were considered by many experts to be under complete therapeutic control. However, the scientific community grossly underestimated the remarkable genetic plasticity of these organisms and their ability, through mutations and genetic transfer, to develop resistance to antibiotics. Infectious diseases are now the world's major cause of death. The cause of bacterial reemergence as a threat to human health and life is the abuse of the "miracle drugs." The ubiquitous nature of antibiotics in the human ecosystem foments bacterial resistance and threatens to eliminate antibiotics as effective drugs for human therapeutic use.
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M University System, Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas 75246-2013, USA.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Svec
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000235:genetics; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005503:Food Additives; D006300:Health Services Misuse; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005503:Food Additives