History of Antibiotics - Escherichia coli

History of Antibiotics - Escherichia coli

from page 52 and 53 of the October 2005 issue of Wired.

The table below shows the timeline for the infectious disease, Escherichia coli, the antibiotics that were developed to treat it, and the eventual evolution of resistant strains that rendered the antibiotics ineffective.

Escherichia coli
Dangerous forms of E. coli cause GI distress to meningitis. In June 2005, the FDA approved tigecycline, a new type of antibiotic designed to fight resistant E. coli.

See also Staphylococcus aureus
S. aureus causes skin infections, toxic shock syndrome, and a host of other staph infections. More than half of all staph infections found in intensive care units are drug-resistant.

See also See also Streptococcus pneumoniae
S. pneumoniae causes a range of illnesses including strep throat, flesh-eating bacteria, and pneumonia that requires hospitalization.

The following are three ways bacteria evolve to become resistant to antibiotics.

Camouflage
A bacteria's protein receptors morph so that the antibiotic cannot lock onto them and kill them. Staph evolved in this way to resist penicillin.

Roadblocks
The bacteria's cell membrane changes to keep the antibiotic out. Bacteria such as staph and strep evolved in this way to defeat tetracyclines.

Disarmament
A bacteria produces enzymes that turn off the active part of the antibiotic. Using this method, E. coli resisted cephalosporins.

Year/	Escherichia coli	Antibiotic
1942		Penicillin
1944		Streptomycin
1947		Chloramphenical
1948		Tetracycline
1952		Erythromycin
1955		Lincomycin
1959	E. coli resists chloramphenicol, tetracycline, and streptomycin
1960		Methicillin
1961		Ampicilin
1963
1964		Cephalosporin and Vancomycin
1965
1970
1977		Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
1978
1986	E. coli resists ampicillin	Fluoroquinolone
1987	E. coli resists trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole	Ciprofloxacin
1988
1994	E. coli resists fluoroquinolone
1996		Levofloxacin
1997
1999	E. coli resists cephalosporin
2000		Linezolid
2001
2002	E. coli resists ciprofloxacin
2005		Tigecycline