Nearly the entirety of humanity is being threatened by the global pandemic COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). People are losing their life in large number every day. COVID-19 is the most challenging public health crisis of our generation since world war II. Since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 was reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019, the virus has reached all territories around the world except Antarctica. Cases are being reported each day from different countries. Due to the lack of a specific drug for the treatment of COVID-19, management of patients is the toughest job in clinical settings. The global efforts of all concerned stakeholders and researchers are in place to gain victory over this pandemic. Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, we shouldn’t forget another major issue of our modern medical era – antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Global attention is not as much focused on AMR as on COVID-19. Antibiotics, crucial life-saving medicines that were ‘miracle drugs’ of the 20^th century, are now ceasing to be effective for curing pathogens. Microbes (bacteria, parasites, viruses or fungi) that develop antimicrobial resistance (also known as “superbugs”) are creating a global problem with varied resistance rate in every country of the world. If the race of AMR goes in the same speed as it is now then it will be responsible to kill nearly 10 million people annually worldwide by 2050 and a decrease of 2 to 3.5% in gross domestic product (GDP), which would cost the world about 100 trillion US dollars. AMR is slower than COVID-19 but the efficacy of antibiotics is failing every hour and turning back modern medicine. 

Read more from The Society for Applied Microbiology here.