The tick-transmitted Lyme disease, discovered only 20 years ago, is also a result of human invasion of natural habitats, scientists say. Travel has contributed to the worldwide spread of disease, Chapnick said. Staphylococcus, which can cause anything from a mild skin infection to life-threatening blood infection, is another one that has grown resistant to antibiotics. Pneumonia that is due to a penicillin-resistant streptococcus is on the rise as well. Drug companies have been slow to come up with new antibiotics and existing ones are being overused, strengthening the arsenal of resistant strains, Chapnick said.
Antibiotics resistance is a large, serious and growing problem around the world.
As the difficulties of containing viruses and bacteria were being discovered in the '70s and '80s, the AIDS virus emerged, defying earlier theories of viral behavior. Despite the bleak outlook, Wilfert noted that progress has been made. I would not be disappointed in what has been accomplished. Nina Wasserman is a freelance writer.