This week we had some terrifying information from the World Well being Group: Antibiotics are failing us. A rising variety of bacterial infections aren’t responding to those medicines—together with widespread ones that have an effect on the blood, intestine, and urinary tract. Get contaminated with one among these bugs, and there’s a good likelihood antibiotics received’t assist.
The scary fact is {that a} rising variety of dangerous micro organism and fungi have gotten immune to medication. Only a few weeks in the past, the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention revealed a report discovering a pointy rise in infections attributable to a harmful kind of micro organism which are immune to among the strongest antibiotics. Now, the WHO report reveals that the issue is surging all over the world.
On this week’s Checkup, we’re making an attempt one thing a bit totally different—a little bit quiz. You’ve most likely heard about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) earlier than, however how a lot are you aware about microbes, antibiotics, and the size of the issue? Right here’s our try to put the “enjoyable” in “basic menace to trendy drugs.” Take a look at your data beneath!
This text first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Expertise Evaluate’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and skim articles like this primary, enroll right here.