1. A Timeline of Antibiotic
Resistance
See timeline below
2.
3. Golden Era of Development
Introduction of antibiotic agents with penicillin in the 1940s
produced a breakthrough health intervention, saving millions of
lives
The ‘golden era’ of antibiotic discovery in the 1940s-1960s
Streptomycin, tetracycline, vancomycin among many others
Commercial development of a huge number of drug classes
Global effort to find new antibiotics through screening of microbes
Many bacterial diseases receded
4. Emergence of Resistance
A parallel surge in strains of bacteria resistant to
antibiotics appeared only years after their development
As early as the 1940s isolates of Staphylococcus
aureus resistant to penicillin were identified
Although antibiotic agent discovery continued,
resistance has began to increase sharply
Loss of effectiveness becoming common for all
antibiotics after continued use
5. Increasing Development Gaps
and Growing Resistance
Since the 1960s, development of antibiotics has been
declining
Larger gaps between development of new antibiotics
Only one new antibiotic agent in the last decade
Development becoming more expensive for drug
companies
Many of the most effective antibacterials have now
been rendered ineffective – with many multidrug
resistant strains arising
Leaves an uncertain future concerning bacterial
diseases
