Antimicrobial Resistance: An Ultimate Challenge for 21st Century Scientists, Healthcare Professionals, and Policymakers to Save Future Generations

Abstract

A ntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a slow tsunami that threatens to undo a century of medical progress.The 21st century is heading toward a post-antibiotic era, where common infections for which treatments have been found could become deadly again.AMR, like an invisible pandemic, has become more challenging or even impossible to treat, leading to increased morbidity and mortality.AMR is a catastrophic phenomenon whereby bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other pathogens evolve to resist the existing antimicrobial drugs designed to kill them, rendering our current life-saving drugs ineffective and useless.This rapid and relentless process is fueled by the extensive misuse and overuse of these antimicrobial drugs in all fields, including human medicine, agriculture, veterinary care, and environmental science.It has not been very long since the world saw the first case of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of China, in December 2019.It started as a disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and became a pandemic� within span of 2 months COVID-19 spontaneously spread to all provinces of China and then more than 90 countries across the globe. 1 This pandemic has shaken the world by giving "cough to people" and "cold to economy", infecting approximately 800 million people and killing more than 7 million people globally, as per recent data of confirmed and reported cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) independetly by individual nations. 2 The actual number of cases must be really terrific!World scientists are still working to uncover valuable information and facts about COVID-19, and it has been found that secondary bacterial pneumonia drove many COVID-19 deaths.The secondary bacterial infection of the lungs (pneumonia) was extremely common in patients with COVID-19, affecting almost half the patients who required support from mechanical ventilation.Studies further revealed that the mortality related to the virus itself was relatively low, but nosocomial infections acquired during hospital ICU stays, like secondary bacterial pneumonia, were disastrous. 3Another secondary infection, COVID-19-associated mucormycosis, was found, associated with severe illness and death, which forced health professionals to use antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and steroids excessively and prophylactically.All these efforts have contributed to AMR globally.AMR is a "potential pandemic"�like contagious viruses themselves, it can spread silently and rapidly across the globe.International travel and trade facilitates the spread of resistant strains, making AMR a

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