Virtually everyone has taken antibiotics. They can be lifesavers -- and they can be useless. What are they? How are they used? And what happens as the effectiveness of antibiotics continues to decline?

Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® examines the personal and societal implications of our planet's most important -- and frequently misused -- medications. In a question-and-answer format, it unpacks the most complicated aspects of this issue, including: How antibiotics are used (and overused) in humans, plants, and livestock; the causes and consequences of bacterial resistance to antibiotics; how the globalized world enables antibiotic resistance to spread quickly; and the difficult decisions ahead for both medical care and the food system.

Grounded in the latest scientific research and crafted for general readers, Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers a clear-eyed overview of where we are, and what the future holds, as antibiotics lose their power.

INTRODUCTION ORIGIN AND FUNCTION USE IN HUMANS OTHER USES OF ANTIBIOTICS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE CONSEQUENCES OF RESISTANCE ALTERNATIVES TO ANTIBIOTICS RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY PRESERVING ANTIBIOTICS GLOSSARY

Mary E. Wilson , Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and University of California, San Francisco

Mary E. Wilson, MD, is a renowned leader in global health and infectious diseases. She has diagnosed and treated patients with a wide range of infections, studied the global epidemiology of infectious diseases, and serves as a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco. She lectures frequently in US and abroad and has published widely on topics in infectious disease and global health.

"Wilson's final two chapters are notable for suggesting methods to reduce the need for antibiotics and presenting newer approaches to diagnosing and treating bacterial infections." --Tony Miksanek, Booklist