How serious is the problem of resistant infections? Chapter overview / Teddi Dineley Johnson ; Antibiotic-resistant infections are an epidemic in the United States and worldwide / Brad Spellberg [and others] ; Resistant infections in hospitals kill 90,000 each year in the United States / Arthur Allen ; Resistant infections can be deadly even outside health care facilities / Alison Young ; U.S. deaths from staph infections may exceed the number of deaths from AIDS / The Associated Press ; Drug-resistant staph infections are on the rise in American schools / Natasha Lindstrom ; Resistant infections could be a huge problem in the event of a pandemic / Anthony L. Kimery ; Animals also are at risk of developing resistant infections / Christie Keith

Are drug-resistant infections the result of agricultural use of antibiotics? Seventy percent of antibiotic drugs are used in agriculture / Keep Antibiotics Working ; Transmission of resistant bacteria from agriculture may be greater than that from hospitals / David L. Smith, Jonathan Dushoff, and J. Glenn Morris ; The use of antibiotics in food animals may be the main source of resistance in food-borne pathogens / Union of Concerned Scientists ; The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ensures the safe use of antibiotics in animal agriculture / Gary Weber ; A link between agricultural use of antibiotics and resistant infections has not been proven / Dale W. Rozeboom, Barbara E. Straw, Hui Li, and David K. Beede ; There must be more study of the risk to public health from agricultural use of antibiotics / Scott A. McEwen

Are drug companies at fault for not developing better antibacterial drugs? The major drug companies are no longer researching antibacterial drugs / Guy Charron ; Drug industry economics are at the root of the resistant infection problem / Sabin Russell ; Drug companies promote the overuse of antibiotic drugs / Joel Fuhrman ; Drug companies are leading the fight against resistant infections / Billy Tauzin ; Drug companies have few financial incentives to produce antibacterial drugs / Paul Gigot ; Smaller drug companies are still doing antibiotic research / Andriy Luzhetskyy, Stefan Pelzer, and Andreas Bechthold ; The nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in food animal production should be banned / Jay P. Graham ; Policies must be implemented to prolong the effectiveness of antibiotic drugs / Gary Feuerberg ; Hospitals must carefully manage their antibiotic prescriptions / Laura Landro ; The government must create economic and regulatory incentives for drug companies to develop new antibiotics / Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News ; Bold initiatives outside the drug industry are needed to address the crisis of resistant infections / New York-Presbyterian Hospital ; The public and private sectors need to support pro-research legislation / David Fleming and Jeffrey S. Duchin ; New approaches are needed to combat drug-resistant bacteria / Sean S. Kardar.