Drug-resistant infectious diseases, such as gonorrhoeae, pose a growing threat. A “black hole in surveillance” has left Australia vulnerable to drug-resistant superbugs including typhoid and gonorrhoeae, researchers have warned. There is currently a “large reservoir of antimicrobial resistance” (AMR) both “within Australia and at our doorstep”, the authors of an article published by the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday said. The World Health Organisation describes AMR as “the ability of a micro-organism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it”. “As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.” Humanity is facing an “evolutionary struggle against microbes”, and the microbes hold a crucial advantage, Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory deputy director Deborah Williamson and colleagues wrote. “In this instance, the evolutionary advantage of microbes over humankind has been greatly amplified […]