How antibiotics revolutionized the treatment of infections – 03/13/2024 – Science

The first video in the series A Culpa é da Ciência, produced by a partnership between Sheet and Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein, shows how antibiotics have revolutionized the way in which humans face infections caused by bacteria.

Thanks to the development of these medications from the beginning of the 20th century, our species no longer takes mortal risks with situations as simple as an earache or a deep cut in the skin, in addition to surviving surgical procedures with relative ease.

The history of the development of antibiotics has involved some luck, as in the discovery of penicillin, produced by a mold that accidentally destroyed a culture of bacteria in the laboratory. The discovery of new compounds capable of killing bacteria without major side effects has taken off once and for all with the study of competition between microorganisms in soil and other environments.

The revolution brought about by these medicines, however, has a more worrying side. Its indiscriminate and incorrect use has encouraged the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, an increasingly serious problem in hospital contexts and which will require public awareness and creativity from scientists to overcome.