The history of the first commercial antibiotics is briefly reviewed, together with data from the US and WHO, showing the decrease in death due to infectious diseases over the 20th century, from just under half of all deaths, to less than 10%. The second half of the 20th century saw the new use of antibiotics as growth promoters for food animals in the human diet, and the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st saw the beginning and rapid rise of advanced microbial resistance to antibiotics.
Keywords: Advanced microbial resistance; Antibiotic growth promoters; Antibiotic resistance.
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