Overview Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is becoming an increasingly worrisome problem.
Some bacteria are now resistant to virtually every antibiotic in our arsenal.
Bacterial resistance has arisen due to the widespread use and overuse of antibiotics. These new antibiotics are prescribed over longer treatment periods, resulting in higher healthcare costs and disturbingly frequent deaths from antibiotic-resistant infections. In 1997, the first two cases of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection were reported in Michigan and New Jersey. A Finnish study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine stated that Group A Streptococcus resistance to erythromycin increased two and one-half times over a one year span. This occurred in spite of urgent recommendations for a decrease in antibiotic usage and subsequent physician compliance, which cut usage by almost one half.