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Antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance and the Revenge of the Microbes
07/01/2026
Antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance and the Revenge of the Microbes
In a 2025 WHO report on global antibiotic resistance, they revealed that one in six bacterial infections worldwide in 2023 were completely resistant to standard antibiotic treatments. Between 2018 and 2023, antibiotic resistance increased in over 40% of the monitored pathogen-antibiotic combinations. The average annual increase in resistance sits between 5% and 15%. Bacterial AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths. Projections indicate that without massive interventions, deaths could surge by 70% by 2050, claiming nearly 10 million lives annually. Joining me today to discuss antibiotics, how they work, their history and antimicrobial resistance is Brenda A Wilson, PhD. Dr Wilson is a professor of microbiology and adjunct professor of pathobiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also the coauthor of the fantastic book, Revenge of the Microbes, 2nd ED
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