Antibiotic Resistance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a form of drug resistance whereby some (or, less commonly, all) sub-populations of amicroorganism, usually a bacterial species, are able to survive after exposure to one or more antibiotics; pathogens resistant to multiple antibiotics are considered multidrug resistant (MDR) or, more colloquially, superbugs.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious and growing phenomenon in contemporary medicine and has emerged as one of the pre-eminent public health concerns of the 21st century, in particular as it pertains to pathogenic organisms (the term is especially relevant to organisms that cause disease in humans). A World Health Organization report released April 30, 2014 states, "this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country. Antibiotic resistance–when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections–is now a major threat to public health."

In the simplest cases, drug-resistant organisms may have acquired resistance to first-line antibiotics, thereby necessitating the use of second-line agents. Typically, a first-line agent is selected on the basis of several factors including safety, availability, and cost; a second-line agent is usually broader in spectrum, has a less favourable risk-benefit profile, and is more expensive or, in dire circumstances, may be locally unavailable. In the case of some MDR pathogens, resistance to second- and even third-line antibiotics is, thus, sequentially acquired, a case quintessentially illustrated by Staphylococcus aureus in some nosocomial settings. Some pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also possess a high level of intrinsic resistance.