European Inventor Armed With Lab-On-A-Chip Fights Infectious Disease And Personalizes Skin Care

Some argue antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the ability of microbes to develop resistance to antimicrobial drugs, is a growing threat. Others say superbugs are already here, citing the increase in strains of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis worldwide and the spread of staph infections.

There's little argument about this fact, however: if we are not in a post-antibiotic era now, we will be soon. Such an era would see patients dying from common infections caused by bacteria, parasites, virus and fungi, and from minor injuries.  In a study commissioned by British Prime Minister David Cameron, it was found that drug-resistant infections will reach global costs of $100 trillion and will add 10 million deaths a year, by 2050.

In the overall war against antibiotic resistance, the battle against hospital-acquired infections plays a major role. While infections can be caught anywhere, many of the antibiotic-resistant infections occur in hospitals and other medical facilities. Resistance is inevitable, but overly-broad prescriptions, inaccurate prescriptions and misuse of antibiotics exacerbate the problem. According to the Infectious Disease Society, up to 50 percent of antibiotic use is unnecessary or incorrectly applied...