Can we solve the AMR crisis?

The AMR crisis can be tackled. While microbes will always evolve, we can stay ahead of the curve and be able to treat infections effectively. But it will take a concerted effort from across the world to:

1. Look after the antimicrobials we already have.

• We can do that by making sure the right antimicrobial is always used for the right infection at the right time.
• That means we need accurate and accessible diagnostic tools available.
• We can also do that by managing prescribing practices in humans and animals and managing antimicrobial exposure in the environment, like through sewage or farming practices.
• We can prevent infection in the first place, meaning fewer antimicrobials have to be used. We can do that through effective vaccination programmes, and infection prevention control practices such as ensuring access to clean water and effective hand-washing.
• We can make sure we know where resistant pathogens are emerging, and how prescribing is happening through accurate surveillance systems and data sharing

2. Continue to create new antimicrobials. 

• It is very difficult to produce new antimicrobials and bring them to market, and this process often takes many years
• We need to keep investing in finding new antimicrobials to stay ahead of developing resistance
• We also need to develop new treatment strategies that combine complementary therapies and new ways of delivering effective therapeutic doses directly to the site of infection
• Once potential new antimicrobials are in development, we need better tools to test their efficacy in pre-clinical trials that better mimic the conditions in the body.

This is a very complicated problem, with a range of complex solutions. The Microbiology Society has written our suggestions to policymakers for how we think the crisis needs to be addressed.

What are some alternatives to antibiotics?

Whilst new antimicrobials to target all microbes are required, antibiotics are especially at risk. Microbiologists are therefore working hard to develop some of the alternatives to antibiotics that may be viable treatments in the future.

Some exciting areas of research that may at some point in the future be able to be used as alternative antimicrobials include:

Phage therapy

Phage therapy is the use of anti-bacterial viruses called bacteriophages that can infect and kill specific bacterial cells. The advantages over antibiotics are that they are highly specific, so will not harm healthy bacteria in the body, they also multiply when they come into contact with their bacterial targets, so they can be used in very low doses and they can evolve to counter any bacterial resistance to them. Phage therapy has existed for over 100 years, but their specific nature makes them hard to develop as a general treatment for broad use. New advances in genetic sequencing, synthetic biology and AI tools look set to change this.