Editorial: Bacterial Resistance

Abstract

The period 1930 – 1950 marked an important watershed in discovery of drugs generally and antibacterial
agents in particular. The discovery of penicillin-G by Fleming in 1929 heralded the dawn of a new era.
Among the most important antimicrobial agents discovered during this period were sulphonamides,
penicillins, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, macrolides, cephalosporins and polypeptides. Initially only
one or two drugs were discovered in each of the mentioned classes. Later these original antibacterial
agents were subjected to molecular modification to yield derivatives, which had improved efficacy,
safety and pharmacokinetic profiles. Thus from the original cephalosporin-C we now have more than 40
cephalosporins classified as first, second, third and fourth generations. Similarly from the original
penicillin-G we now have over 30 penicillins. The story is the same for macrolides, tetracyclines and
aminoglycosides though the number of derivatives varies in each class of the antibacterials.