Who pays for new classes?
Markets under-reward drugs meant to be used sparingly. Pull incentives are a live policy debate.
Science can find new targets; economics must pay for them. Diagnostics must be fast enough to withhold a drug.
Phage, antibodies and vaccines share the load in research talk. None is a household recipe here.
Open questions
Can rapid tests cut empiric use?
If a clinic can tell virus from bacterium in minutes, fewer unneeded courses start.
How do we watch farms and rivers?
Genomic surveillance of wastewater and livestock is expanding; sharing data is political.
Will phage replace pills?
Phage therapy is researched for some resistant infections. It is not a home kit and not a universal swap.
What does success look like?
Falling unnecessary use, stable last-line drugs, and fewer outbreaks of resistant clones in hospitals.
The frontier is governance of a shared chemical commons.
Keep exploring
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