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The discovery of antibiotics was one of the most important advances in medicine, profoundly improving human health. Many bacterial infections (for example, tuberculosis and wound infections) that often killed people became treatable, saving millions of lives.To read the rest of the article, click on "Antibiotic resistance: Evolution in action?" For a lengthy but detailed video presentation by Dr. G. Charles Jackson, click on “Bacteria are not Evolving Resistance to Antibiotics” (the main presentation is 1 hr. 40 min., then a question-and-answer session).
In the 15 years or so following their introduction in the 1930s, deaths in the USA, for example, declined by about 220 per 100,000 population per year. All other medical technologies only reduced deaths by about a further 20 over the next 45 years.
However, the development of resistance to antibiotics threatens this success. Globally, infections caused by bacteria resistant to many or all of the currently available antibiotics are increasing.
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