Need for Antibiotic Alternatives
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According to a 2020 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), “antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today.” (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance)
Antibiotic resistance occurs when pathogens like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to inhibit or kill them. Upon evolving to render a drug ineffective, antibiotic-resistant pathogens result in infections that become increasingly difficult and ultimately impossible to treat. It is important to note that antibiotic resistance does not mean the body is becoming resistant to antibiotics; it is that bacteria have become resistant to the antibiotics designed to manage them. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2.8 million people each year in the U.S. alone are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria or fungi, resulting in >35,000 deaths. New drugs are desperately needed to treat these infections. The nitric oxide-based “antibiotic alternative” compounds being developed by Vast are not susceptible to antimicrobial resistance mechanisms common to traditional antibiotics and therefore uniquely positioned to address this growing global health issue. |
