50 Years Ago Health & Medicine

50 years ago, antibiotic resistant bacteria became a problem outside hospitals

Excerpt from the August 24, 1974 issue of Science News 

Multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, bacteria

Multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (purple in this colorized microscope image), is one of the leading causes of antibiotic-resistant infections and death worldwide.

NIAID/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Maria Temming

Rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — Science News, August 24, 1974

Antibiotics have saved millions of people from life-threatening bacterial infections. But these “miracle” drugs have a serious drawback: Bacteria can build resistance to them.

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