Aritra B et al / Int. J. of Res. in Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics Vol-6(1) 2017 [028-037] www.ijrpp.com ~ 28~ ISSN Print: 2278-2648 IJRPP |Vol.6 | Issue 1 | Jan - Mar - 2017 ISSN Online: 2278-2656 Journal Home page: www.ijrpp.com Review article Open Access The third world war: man versus drug resistant virus and bacteria. Aritra Bhattacharyya 1 , Sharmily Chakraborty 2 , Tapan Kumar Chatterjee * 1 Ph.d student Humboldt Universität zu Berlin,Germany 2 junior Research Fellow, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032. * Professor, Division of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032. *Corresponding author: Dr. Tapan Kumar Chatterjee Email: crctkc@gmail.com ABSTRACT Unlimited commercial production of antibiotics and their ever increasing use in our day to day life has led to the evolution of a class of organism known as multi-drug resistance organisms (MDRO). Multi drug resistance (MDR) is a condition in which a particular disease causing microorganism (virus, bacteria, fungi and parasites) becomes resistant to antimicrobials (antivirals, antibiotics or antimicrobics). The present Chapter will focus on the cause and mechanism of MDR in bacteria and their prevention, if any, such as combination antibiotic therapy. These bacteria range from urgent threat level such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae to serious threat level such as Streptococcus pneumonia and also includes microorganism with a concerning threat level such as Group A Streptococcus. The discussion also includes MDR in viruses (such as Hepatitis B) and their prevention, if any. Keyword: Multi drug resistance; Antibiotics; Antiviral drugs; R plasmids; Efflux pumps; WHO. INTRODUCTION It was way back in 1928 when penicillin was discovered which paved the way for commercial production of many other antibiotics. The global annual antibiotic production stands at an estimated 1, 00,000 tons, reflecting the dependency of life on antibiotic therapy for the treatment of various infectious diseases. The extreme use of antibiotics has led to emergence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) in bacteria, virus and other pathogenic microbes. Drug resistance in bacteria dates back to 1940’s when certain strains of Staphylococcus aureus were found to be resistant against treatment. Various biochemical mechanisms are responsible for the MDR in bacteria. The mechanisms include mutational alteration of the target protein of the antibiotics, enzymatic inactivation of the drug, preventing drug access to the target by means of drug specific efflux pump or by accumulation of resistance plasmids [1]. The various bacterial strains that are the pinnacle of drug resistance includes Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficule, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Kleibsiella pneumoniae , International Journal of Research in Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics