TIMELINE

ANTIBIOTIC INTRODUCED

1928

The first antibiotic penicillin is discovered by bacteriologist Alexander Fleming.

1950

Discovery of tetracycline and erythromycin mark the beginning of the golden age of antibiotic discovery. Which lasted all the way into the seventies.

[T3]

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[TI2]

Methicillin first introduced to treat infections caused by the bacteria in the Staphylococcus genus. It was created by modifying the original structure of penicillin, and is therefore a semisynthetic derivative of the drug.

1960

[T4]

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1980s

[TI4]

Though Macrolides were first discovered in the fifties, synthetic versions of erythromycin were developed during the eighties. Macrolides can be used to treat penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria.

[T6]

A new antibiotic known as Linezolid has the potential to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections.

[T7]

2000

[TI5]

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE DISCOVERED

Before penicillin is even introduced therapeutically, penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus was discovered.

[T2]

1940

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[TI7]

1959

Tetracycline-resistant Shigella is discovered. This bacteria causes the diarrheal disease Shigellosis, which accounts for about 500,000 cases of diarrhea annually.

[T9]

[TI8]

1961

British scientists discover the first strain of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria that resisted Methicillin. More commonly known today as MRSA.

[T5]

[TI3]

[T4]

Linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus bacteria first discovered. These are also classified in the MRSA category alongside other similar superbugs.

2001

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[TI10]

[TI6]

2013

In the 2013 Global Risks Report, a warning is issued about the increasing risks associated with antibiotic resistance. It also stated that that no new classes of antibiotics had been developed since the 1980s.

[T8]