Stuart Gaines, an FDA microbiologist who works with the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, examines the growth of a bacterial culture. Antibiotics have transformed health care since they were introduced in the 1940s and have been widely used to fight bacterial infections. These and similar drugs kill or inhibit the growth of disease-causing microorganisms. However, some infectious organisms have developed resistance to the antibiotics used to treat patients with infections. When bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic, that medicine becomes less effective. Medical treatment of people infected with these drug-resistant organisms can become more complicated, leading to longer hospital stays, increased health care costs, and in extreme cases, to untreatable infections. To learn more about antibiotic resistance and how you can help prevent it, read this Consumer Update: