Rise of Superbugs

The discovery of penicillin marked an era of antibiotic discovery in the 20th century where humans were now able to treat many bacterial infections- something that was difficult to do before. Vaccines and antimicrobial drugs were also discovered- and these advances meant that we could treat viral, parasitic and bacterial infections with more ease. So it seems inevitable that concerns over infectious diseases fell out of the public psyche. Indeed, humans could just take a pill and their infection would simply “go away”. Now, infectious diseases are fighting back and are developing resistance to the drugs designed to kill them. Bacteria are an excellent example of this with antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics underpin all of modern medicine and bacteria can survive the strongest ones, meaning that infections are becoming deadly again. Also, the lives of people around the globe have been severely affected by the virus Sars-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19. The way we interact has changed, and the way we view microorganisms has now changed. Infectious diseases are firmly back in the public domain. So what will happen to modern medicine if we cannot treat infections? Why are untreatable and new infectious diseases on the rise? Does this have anything to do with Climate Change? Can humans fight back using science to win this battle?