AMR – what it is and why you should know about it

  Today marks the beginning of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, driven by the World Health Organisation to improve global knowledge of antibiotic drugs. Running from the 18th to the 24th of November, the awareness initiative is focused on uniting to preserve effective antimicrobials and reduce or prevent the spread of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which is becoming an increasing concern across the world. Before we jump deeper into the AMR and the global impact it will have if not addressed, let’s briefly cover the history of antimicrobials in medicine.  1910, the first breakthrough in antimicrobial treatment These life-saving drugs are rather ironically named, since the literal meaning of antibiotic is ‘anti-life’ or ‘against living’ – but in this case, the living organisms that produce the disease’.  Selman Waksman first used the term ‘antibiotic’ during the 1940s. Until then, antibiotic drugs were simply referred to by their names.  While there are anecdotal accounts of antimicrobial treatments being administered during ancient times, the breakthrough moment was the creation of the first synthetic antimicrobial agents by Paul Ehrlich who noted that certain dyes would color bacterial cells but not others. Ehrlich thought that if these cells could be isolated, and that selective chemicals could be used to target and neutralize bacteria.  Ehrlich worked with the toxic element arsenic to produce compound 606, which was introduced in ca. 1910,...
Source: GIDEON blog - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Events News Source Type: blogs