| Summary: | The wonder drug penicillin was popularised widely in the 1940 s and resistance to it too developed in the same decade. Antibiotic resistance or antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a grave problem facing the 21st century. It is predicted that nearly 10 million people will die from AMR in 2050. The drug resistance mechanism is categorized as intrinsic drug resistance and extrinsic drug resistance, wherein intrinsic changes arise due to molecular changes in the organism and extrinsic resistance arises due to externally acquired stress. Also, both gram-negative and gram-positive organisms have different drug resistance mechanisms. Many strategies like the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics, combinatorial therapy, and antibiotic stewardship have been used to combat this menace, but the high adaptability of microbes and the lack of effective new drugs in the recent past have hampered all our efforts. Phage therapy, antimicrobial peptides, nano-emulsions, and quorum sensing inhibitors are some of the new promising methods for combating AMR. Alternatively, host-directed therapies (HDTs), including restoring microbiota by probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics approach, have become an attractive option for potential therapeutics for the effective management of AMR. Celebration of the antibiotic week and other mass awareness drives worldwide will help to spread awareness on the use of antibiotics. More research on identifying the new and novel antibiotics from natural sources would serve as an effective means of controlling AMR. All these approaches if followed cautiously and meticulously can have a huge impact on the problem of AMR.
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