The increasing antibiotic resistance is triggering an increasingly serious public health crisis worldwide. When bacteria, viruses, parasites and other microorganisms develop resistance to antibiotics, the originally effective drugs gradually lose their therapeutic effect, making common infections difficult to cure and even possibly returning to the dark age of "no medicine to cure". The spread of drug-resistant strains significantly increases the risk of conventional surgery and treatment, and routine surgeries such as cesarean section and joint replacement may become dangerous due to the risk of postoperative infection. The World Health Organization warns that if effective measures are not taken, antibiotic resistance could lead to 10 million deaths annually by 2050, surpassing the number of deaths caused by cancer.

This crisis directly threatens the foundation of modern medicine. Chemotherapy, organ transplantation, and other antibiotic supported medical methods will face enormous challenges, as many cancer patients may not die from the tumor itself, but from uncontrollable infections. Medical procedures such as neonatal intensive care and premature infant care can also double the risk of drug-resistant bacterial infections. What is even more worrying is that resistance genes can transfer horizontally between different bacterial strains, leading to the emergence of "bacteria" such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which has developed resistance to multiple antibiotics, making treatment options limited.

The overuse of antibiotics is the main reason for accelerating the development of drug resistance. In the medical field, factors such as excessive prescription of antibiotics by doctors, patients not following medical advice to complete treatment courses, and inadequate hospital infection control are all contributing to drug resistance. The situation in the agricultural sector is equally severe, as the breeding industry extensively uses antibiotics as growth promoters, leading to the spread of drug-resistant bacteria to humans through the food chain. What's even more tricky is that the development of new antibiotics is seriously lagging behind, with almost no new categories of antibiotics introduced in the past 30 years. Pharmaceutical companies lack investment motivation due to high research and development costs and low returns, leading to the gradual depletion of our arsenal against drug-resistant bacteria.

The impact of this crisis has surpassed the medical field and is causing a huge economic burden. Drug resistant infections lead to longer hospital stays and increased treatment costs. The World Bank estimates that antibiotic resistance could reduce global GDP by 1.1% -3.8% by 2050. Medical systems in developing countries are particularly vulnerable, and drug-resistant tuberculosis, drug-resistant malaria and other diseases may destroy the fragile public health systems in these countries. To address this crisis, global collaborative action is needed, including strengthening antibiotic management, improving hospital infection control, regulating agricultural drug use, incentivizing new drug research and development, and other comprehensive measures. Otherwise, humanity may face severe challenges in the "post antibiotic era".