An emerging route to antibiotic resistance in South Asia: a correspondence

The use of antibiotics started with the novel intention of treating diseases in the 19th century caused by bacterial infection. Nowadays, due to the overuse of antibiotics, bacteria can insist on the mechanisms to get stronger to fight back and prevail, referred to as ‘antibiotic resistance’ (AR). It is ranked among the significant causes of death worldwide, with the highest burdens in lower-middle-income countries1. South Asia experiences a high burden of AR, with overall 76.8 deaths in 100,000 of the population1. AR develops naturally as a result of bacterial survival, but it is exacerbated by unregulated and nonprescribed antibiotic use in clinical or agricultural settings as well as an aversion to vaccination programs, which popularize antibiotic use as a ‘quick…