Most of us are unconcerned with the threat of bacterial infections in our daily lives.  We believe that we are fortunate enough to rely on antibiotics if we are infected.  However, our sense of comfort is naïve.  There is a surge of multidrug resistant bacteria in the world today.  For example, rates of flesh-eating bacterial infections are on the rise in hospitals across the nation.  With little effort to check the rampant growth, drug resistant bacteria appear only months after the introduction of new antibiotics.  Such an emergence is a dire public health concern that pharmaceutical companies and governments are neglecting to combat.

Economics is at the heart of the problem.  It is simply more profitable to sell drugs that have mass appeal or regular use.  Drugs for chronic illnesses like diabetes, depression, and cancer are needed on a regular basis for the entire duration of a patient’s life.  Other drugs that address personal needs like Viagra also turn high profits.  Antibiotics, on the other hand, are used for short durations and irregularly in most people’s lives.  Profits from selling antibiotics won’t come close to those of Viagra.  The difficulties in developing new antibiotics don’t help the situation.  Antibiotics must selectively inhibit the cell wall, DNA, RNA, or protein synthesis of harmful bacteria without significantly damaging anything else in the patient.  Large investments are necessary to meet the challenges in creating new antibiotics.  It is no surprise that only one new family of antibiotics has been successfully introduced in the last 35 years.  Thus, we now have a potential crisis in the horizon.  Bacteria are continuously developing new resistance mechanisms, and economic pressures prevent companies from funding new antibiotic research.   

In order to combat these problems, legislation must be introduced by Congress. Similar to HIV and cancer research, government intervention can help jumpstart antibiotic research projects.  Grant programs should be setup that will provide salary and loan support for physicians and scientists who commit to spend significant years in antibiotic research.  Academic and industrial laboratories should join forces with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to explore the quickest and most effective ways of developing new drugs.  A combined effort would greatly increase the rate of research.  Government contracts can also be given to industry for the development of antibacterials that meet specific national demand. Some would argue that funding is scarce, but that’s not true.  The New York Times reported that around $1.2 trillion has been spent on the Iraq war.  There is enough money out there.  How it’s used is the biggest challenge.  As voters we should keep that in mind in the coming elections.

Relevant Reading 

Spellberg, B., Powers, J. H., Brass, E. P., Miller, L. G., Edwards, J. E. Trends inantimicrobial drug development: implication for the future. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2004, 38, 1279–1286. 

Shlaes, D. M., Projan, S. J., Edwards, J. E. Antibiotic discovery: state of the state. ASM News 2004, 70, 275–281. 

Forbes: A Better Antibiotic?

This is London: Flesh-eating Strain of MRSA Spreads to Schools and Gyms

The New York Times: What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy

Discuss