History of Antibiotics - Streptococcus pneumoniae

History of Antibiotics - Streptococcus pneumoniae

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

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

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

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 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.

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/	Streptococcus pneumoniae/	Antibiotic
1942		Penicillin
1944		Streptomycin
1947		Chloramphenical
1948		Tetracycline
1952		Erythromycin
1955		Lincomycin
1959
1960		Methicillin
1961		Ampicilin
1963	Strep resists tetracycline and lincomycin
1964		Cephalosporin and Vancomycin
1965	Strep resists penicillin
1970	Strep resists chloramphenicol
1977		Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
1978	Strep resists cephalosporin
1986		Fluoroquinolone
1987		Ciprofloxacin
1988	Strep resists erythromycin
1994
1996		Levofloxacin
1997
1999	Strep resists ciprofloxacin
2000		Linezolid
2001
2002	Strep resists levofloxacin
2005		Tigecycline