Pestilence

WHO warns of lack of new antibiotics under development - UPI.com
UPI reports: "Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are on the rise, and the World Health Organization issued a warning Wednesday of the lack of new antibiotics under development while the threat of antimicrobial resistance grows. [...] The new WHO report found most of the antibiotics currently being developed are modifications of existing classes of antibiotics, calling them short-term solutions with few potential treatment options for antibiotic-resistant infections seen as posing the greatest threat."

Comment: I'm glad they are calling attention to this. The medical community recognizes the need for new antibiotics but the pharmaceutical industry has little profit incentive to create new antibiotics until the need (ie. the market) arises. The world may need a new class of cheap antibiotics but Big Pharma would rather make expensive pills that desperate people must have, so I'm sure the research dollars will flow only after an outbreak demonstrates antibiotic-resistance. In other words, people are going to have to die before it becomes a real priority.