Antibiotic Resistance— Why Common Infections Are Getting Harder to Treat
By Stephanie Nwakaegho, Gentechnews Health Columnist
There was a time when antibiotics were regarded as miracles in bottles: small capsules of hope that turned deadly infections into minor inconveniences. Penicillin, discovered in the 1920s, ushered in an age where pneumonia, meningitis, wound infections, and childbirth related sepsis were no longer automatic death sentences. Doctors could finally fight back against invisible enemies, and humanity breathed a collective sigh of relief.
But today, nearly a century later, that miracle is slowly losing its power. Across hospitals, communities, and even our homes, antibiotics are failing against bacteria that once surrendered easily. What used to be simple urinary tract infections now linger for weeks. Pneumonia that once cleared with a few tablets now resists the drugs a doctor prescribes. The world is quietly sliding back toward a pre antibiotic era, one prescription at a time.
The phenomenon driving this is called antibiotic resistance. The World Health Organization calls it “one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development.” It isn’t dramatic like an outbreak of Ebola or a new viral pandemic; it’s slow, silent, and incremental. Yet, it kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, often disguised as an ordinary infection that simply refuses to go away.
Globally, the statistics are sobering. According to a 2022 report published in The Lancet, antimicrobial resistance was directly responsible for nearly 1.3 million deaths worldwide and contributed to almost five million deaths overall in 2019. SubSaharan Africa carried one of the highest burdens. In Nigeria alone, the Center for Disease Control has warned that resistance to common antibiotics like amoxicillin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole is rising rapidly. These are the very medicines families rely on for everyday infections.
The problem was unintentionally worsened by the COVID 19 pandemic. In the early months, when fear was high and information scarce, antibiotics were prescribed widely even though COVID 19 is caused by a virus. People stocked up on drugs as part of unproven “COVID kits.” Hospitals, trying to prevent secondary infections, used antibiotics liberally. By the time the dust settled, global antibiotic consumption had spiked, giving bacteria another massive opportunity to learn new tricks.
Why You Treat Recurrent Bacteria infections But They Have Stopped Responding to Medicine
Antibiotic resistance doesn’t happen because medicines “lose strength” over time. It happens because bacteria evolve. Every time we use an antibiotic, correctly or incorrectly, we apply pressure on the bacteria. The sensitive ones die, but a few with natural survival traits remain. They multiply, passing those traits on to their descendants. Over years of misuse, these resistant strains become dominant. What once required a single drug now needs two or three, at higher doses, for longer durations. The more we push, the smarter the bacteria get.
As nurses, doctors, and pharmacists, we are already witnessing the consequences. Patients arrive with infections that have gone through multiple rounds of antibiotics purchased over the counter. Laboratory results reveal bacteria resistant to nearly every affordable drug. The only effective antibiotics left are often expensive, intravenous, or not available in local markets. Families struggle to pay for them; hospitals ration supplies. A few patients never recover.
How Misuse and low income Fuel the Crisis of Antibiotic resistance
In many African communities, this problem is much closer to home. Step into a neighborhood pharmacy in Lagos, Nairobi, or Accra, and you will find customers walking in without prescriptions, asking confidently for potent drugs. Some take them for sore throats. Others use them for stomach aches or even menstrual pain. Many will not complete the full course once they feel slightly better. Each of these choices may seem small, but together they form the perfect breeding ground for resistant bacteria: microorganisms learning, adapting, and outsmarting our medicines.
The tragedy of antibiotic resistance is that it is largely preventable, but the causes are woven into the fabric of our health systems and the socioeconomic realities people live with:
* Behavioral Misuse: Buying antibiotics without prescriptions, skipping doses, sharing leftover drugs, and pressuring healthcare workers for “something strong.”
* Poor Diagnostic Access: In many parts of Africa, bacterial cultures and sensitivity tests are rare or too expensive. When a patient present with fever, a clinician often prescribes a “broad spectrum” antibiotic without confirmation, just to be safe. This practice, though understandable, encourages resistance.
* Socioeconomic Desperation: Imagine a rural mother whose child develops a fever at midnight. The nearest clinic is miles away and too expensive, but there is a chemist down the road, open late, ready to sell something that “works fast.” In desperation, she buys antibiotics. The intention is love; the consequence may be resistance.
In many African homes, antibiotics are seen as cure all, a sign of modern medicine’s strength. Breaking that mindset requires public education and health systems that make accurate diagnosis accessible and affordable. Strengthening primary healthcare and reducing out of pocket costs are as vital as public campaigns.
The problem extends beyond human medicine. The principle the WHO now calls One Health recognizes that human, animal, and environmental health cannot be separated.
One of the most significant contributors to resistance is the use of antibiotics in agriculture. Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, antibiotics are routinely added to animal feed to promote growth and prevent disease in crowded farms. The bacteria that develop resistance in animals do not stay there; they move through meat, water, and soil into humans. Studies have documented resistant bacteria in meat, dairy, and even fresh vegetables. This environmental spread makes control even harder, turning what was once a medical issue into an ecological one.
Meanwhile, the global pharmaceutical industry is struggling to keep up. Developing a new antibiotic can take more than a decade and cost billions of dollars. Yet, because new drugs must be used sparingly to preserve their effectiveness, they generate little profit. Many companies have abandoned antibiotic research entirely. The bacteria, meanwhile, continue evolving every single day.
How Dangerous is The misuse of Antibiotics?
The tragedy of antibiotic resistance is that it makes even the most routine procedures dangerous. Every surgery, from caesarean sections to appendectomies, depends on effective antibiotics to prevent postoperative infections. Without them, medical progress itself is threatened.
As a nurse, I’ve seen how education changes behavior. Patients who once demanded antibiotics for every cough learn to wait a few days, rest, and hydrate. Mothers who used to self-medicate their children begin to call first, asking if an antibiotic is truly needed.
The fight against resistance is won through small, deliberate acts:
* Completing a dose faithfully, even after symptoms fade.
* Avoiding unnecessary use for viral infections like the flu or common cold.
* Washing hands and strengthening infection control practices in homes and hospitals.
* Vaccinating children to prevent bacterial infections and reduce the need for antibiotics in the first place.
* Trusting healthcare professionals when they refuse to prescribe.
As the WHO reminds us, “The end of the antibiotic era is not inevitable, but the window to preserve these medicines is closing fast.” The battle against resistance isn’t fought in distant laboratories alone; it’s fought in the quiet choices we make: at the pharmacy counter, in the hospital ward, in the home of a mother treating her child.
Antibiotics changed the world once. They gave humanity the gift of survival. That gift is now in danger, not because science has failed, but because misuse has outpaced wisdom. The microbes have not grown smarter than us; we have simply forgotten how to use our tools with care.
Nurses insight
The more we take antibiotics without proper medical guidance, the more damage we do to ourselves. Each misuse doesn’t just make the bacteria stronger — it also weakens our body’s natural ability to fight infections. In the end, the medicine we depend on stops working when we truly need it.
Stephanie Nwakaegho, Gentechnews Health Columnist can be reached through (thestephanienwakaegho@gmail.com)