The Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis: Causes, Consequences, and Management

The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis is the increasing global incidence of infectious diseases affecting the human population, which are untreatable with any known antimicrobial agent. This crisis will have a devastating cost on human society as both debilitating and lethal diseases increase in frequency and scope. Three major factors determine this crisis: (1) the increasing frequency of AMR phenotypes among microbes is an evolutionary response to the widespread use of antimicrobials; (2) the large and globally connected human population allows pathogens in any environment access to all of humanity; and (3) the extensive and often unnecessary use of antimicrobials by humanity provides the strong…