Medicine has exhausted all the possibilities of antibiotics. Viruses are becoming more resistant, and conventional treatments are no longer effective. Scientists say that if new drugs are not found, a global catastrophe could occur.
With the invention of antibiotics, the average human life span has increased significantly. People stopped dying en masse from tuberculosis, flu or polio. Accordingly, the population of the planet has also increased. Now scientists around the world are developing new modifications of antibiotics, trying to enhance their effect. However, so far all is in vain. Bacteria have learned to adapt to everything, says Nikolay Bespalov, director of research and consulting at Pharmexpert.
“Over time, any microorganism acquires a certain resistance to antibiotics and any other substances that affect their vital functions. Therefore, individual microorganisms in the process of adaptation produce substances that destroy antibiotics. At one time, penicillin was widely used and saved many lives - it was the first antibiotic in the world, and now it is not used due to the fact that it is ineffective in the fight against those microorganisms that are now in nature."
However, it is not only bacteria that adapt to new conditions. Human immunity also becomes more resistant to infections and viruses over time. This process is called the war between the world of people and the world of bacteria, which lasts for billions of years.
So far, humanity is winning, but it is possible that someday long forgotten diseases will return in a new form, Nikolai Bespalov notes.
“The likelihood that these diseases will return remains because patients who were dying from the plague were once buried in special burial grounds. In Russia and other countries of the world, after the 90s, these burial grounds were no longer monitored. They were plowed up, flooded and destroyed. There is a possibility that these microbes can somehow get out of there and spread.
In any case, all these strains are stored in laboratories. It is possible that as a result of an error or a terrorist act, or for other reasons, all of them will be free. But, fortunately, there is vaccination, antibacterial drugs. There is no reason to believe that this will be a global problem, as it was in the Middle Ages."
However, one should not forget that people have learned to treat most dangerous diseases. For example, in order to protect against plague and smallpox, the secondary occurrence of which is predicted by some scientists, it is necessary to reintroduce mandatory vaccinations, says Elena Volskaya, an expert in the field of the drug market.
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“Plague and smallpox are diseases against which the main weapon is not antibiotics, but vaccination. If parents are not afraid to vaccinate their children, then universal vaccination will eliminate the occurrence of these diseases one hundred percent."
However, vaccines can only protect against already known diseases. To quickly prepare a vaccine against new viruses, for example, bird or swine flu, huge funds and years of clinical research are needed. Experts note that much depends on the person himself. They recommend increasing your own immunity.
A healthy body is more resistant to viruses. In addition, at the first signs of an illness, you must definitely consult a doctor: even the most dangerous diseases can be effectively treated at the initial stage.