
The policy article references the lack of incentives for pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics (see “Drug Development: Where are the New Antibiotics?” below) and sets the stakes for its challenge:
“The antibiotic pipeline problem may change the practice of medicine as we know it. Advanced interventions currently taken for granted – for example, surgery, cancer treatment, transplantation, and care of premature babies – could become impossible as antibiotic options become fewer.”
IDSA also points to the need to develop better diagnostic tests that will allow doctors to quickly distinguish between drug-resistant and drug-susceptible infections, and treat patients accordingly. This would help halt the spread of drug-resistant infections in healthcare facilities and allow for newer antibiotics to be saved for the most dangerous resistant cases. You can read more on IDSA’s “Bad Bugs No Drugs” campaign, including patient stories of drug-resistant infections here.
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