Ella’s case was no longer news. In 2026, antibiotic-resistant infections killed 1.3 million people annually — more than HIV or malaria. The world had watched for decades as the miracle of penicillin gave way to a slow-motion disaster. Bacteria, evolution’s master adapters, had learned to break down every new drug within 2–3 years of its release.
The rise of resistant infections means that common injuries and common illnesses could once again become deadly.
Compounding this crisis is the lack of new drug development. Creating a new antibiotic is scientifically challenging, costly (over $1 billion), and commercially unattractive. Pharmaceutical companies have little financial incentive because new antibiotics are typically reserved for emergency use to prevent resistance from developing, ensuring low sales volumes. Consequently, the pipeline for new antibiotics has run dry; no truly novel class of antibiotics has been discovered since the 1980s.
Paragraph A outlines the history of antibiotics, starting with Alexander Fleming in 1928. It notes that these drugs "extended human life expectancy across the globe." Ella’s case was no longer news
A process where bacteria pass resistance genes to one another without being parent/offspring.
Understanding the structural patterns, advanced vocabulary, and core concepts embedded in texts covering "The Growing Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance" is essential for achieving a high band score. Part 1: Comprehensive Reading Passage The Growing Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance Paragraph A
The reason why pharmaceutical corporations find antibiotic development unprofitable. When a person takes an antibiotic
The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance is an outcome of evolution. Any population of organisms—bacteria included—naturally includes variants with unusual traits; in this case, the ability to withstand an antibiotic’s attack. When a person takes an antibiotic, the drug kills the defenseless bacteria, leaving behind, or “selecting,” those that can resist it. These renegade bacteria then multiply, increasing their numbers a million-fold in a day, becoming the predominant microorganism. As Joe Cranston, Ph.D., director of the department of drug policy and standards at the American Medical Association, notes: “Whenever antibiotics are used, there is selective pressure for resistance to occur. More and more organisms develop resistance to more and more drugs”.
By 2050, it is estimated that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could cause up to 10 million deaths annually , surpassing cancer as a leading cause of mortality. Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance - Bacteria - Scribd
Since I can’t reproduce actual Cambridge IELTS copyrighted passages or official answer keys, I can instead: the drug kills the defenseless bacteria
Developing a new antibiotic typically takes less than five years.
A major contributor is the extensive use of antibiotics in livestock, where it is used to stimulate growth and prevent infection rather than just treating sickness, leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria spreading in the food chain.
Explanation: Paragraph C states: "...doctors prescribe antibiotics for viral infections, such as the common cold... against which these drugs are entirely ineffective... simultaneously killing off harmless bacteria and allowing resistant strains to colonise."