Why werent antibiotics the miracle drugs we thought they wer

Why weren\'t antibiotics the \'miracle drugs\' we thought they were in the 1960s?

Solution

Organisms evolve. So do bacteria. The widespread use of antibiotics across the globe, often without prescriptions and for conditions that did not require the use of antibiotics led to antibiotic misuse. Antibiotics were introduced by pharmaceutical companies across countries with eye on their balance sheets and not on the need. The antibiotics given to humans were also marketed for animals. Antibiotics were used to keep food safe while packing. This policy of using antibiotics indiscriminately led to the bacteria evolving quickly against antibiotics. Many bacteria have become resistant to the antibiotics. There are many “drug resistant bacteria” and even “multiple- drug resistant bacteria”.

Therefore, it has now become clear, that very soon the human race will enter the age when antibiotics may no longer be effective against bacteria because the bacteria would have all become resistant to the antibiotics.

Hence, they are no longer the miracle drugs we once considered them to be.