Abstract

Antibiotics were unequivocally regarded as the pinnacle of the twentieth century's ‘wonder drugs,’ capable of transforming mortally dreadful bacterial infections into treatable conditions. The dawn of the antibiotic era not only heralded a period of relief for people who had been tormented by infections, but also enabled nations to prosper and reshaped the view of health as a moral obligation. However, the superiority of antibiotics over the potential infectious agents were rather brief.  Antibiotic resistance has emerged as an international public health crisis of the twenty first century. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) arises when antimicrobials exert selection pressure on microorganisms, causing them to mutate or adapt in ways that allow them to withstand antimicrobials. It is a natural phenomenon that is exacerbated by the imprudent use of antimicrobials in humans, animals and agriculture, as well as by global connection through travel and trade.

It is estimated that about 700,000 people die each year as a result of AMR. Without action, the death toll may grow to as many as ten million fatalities per year by 2050, resulting in a 3.8 percent drop in annual gross domestic product (GDP), according to a 2017 World Bank estimate. In an era of widespread resistance and a relatively dry pipeline for new antibiotic development, the therapeutic toolkit for most infections has reached its limit. Hence, in the present scenario of increasing antimicrobial resistance, novel strategies against multidrug resistant and persistent microorganisms, as well as methods to retain the efficacy of existing antimicrobials, their mechanism of action and challenges and prospects for their widespread translation into clinical practice are being discussed.  

Keywords : Antimicrobial resistance, Multidrug resistance, Novel strategies