6533b85afe1ef96bd12b8ac0

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Re-Discovering of Old Molecules to face the Antibiotic Crisis

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Drug-resistant bacteria are responsible for 5,000 deaths a year in the UK, 25,000 deaths a year in Europe and it is estimated that at least two million people in the United States are infected each year and 23,000 of those die from pathogens that are not susceptible to the treatment by any of current antibiotics [13]. Antibiotic resistance of common pathogenic microorganisms is a topic of great concern and it has finally attracted the attention of mass-media and of some global leaders. For example, President Obama, answering the question “Is antibiotic resistance a threat to global security?” has replied ”Effective antibiotics are vital to our national security... They are, quite simply, essential to the health of our people and people everywhere. So we should do everything in our power to ensure that antibiotics remain effective. These vital drugs have saved countless lives over the past century. It is up to us to make sure they keep saving lives for years to come” [14]. Prime Minister David Cameron has recently said “ The world could soon be cast back into the dark ages of medicine unless action is taken to tackle the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics” [15].