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Medical Forum - January 2023
March 11, 2023

For nearly a century, bacteria-?ghting drugs known as antibiotics have helped to control and destroy many of the 

harmful bacteria that can make us sick. But in recent decades, antibiotics have been losing their punch against 

some types of bacteria. In fact, certain bacteria are now unbeatable with today’s medicines. Sadly, the way we’ve 

been using antibiotics is helping to create new drug-resistant “superbugs.”

Superbugs are strains of bacteria that are resistant to several types of antibiotics. Each year these drug-resistant 

bacteria infect more than 2 million people nationwide and kill at least 23,000, according to the U.S. Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and staph infections are 

just a few of the dangers we now face.

Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs for people. They’re also given to livestock to prevent 

disease and promote growth. Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections, such as strep throat and some 

types of pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and ear infections. But these drugs don’t work at all against viruses, such 

as those that cause colds or ?u.