Essay Competition Winner: Surgery:The way of the future

The devastation wrought by bacterial infection in the preantibiotic era is perhaps best exemplified by the First World War. Bacterial infection in soldiers was high because of soil-contaminated shrapnel and shells.1 As a result, many soldiers lost life and limb. If antibiotics had been available, many may have lived.1 The pioneering work of Sir Alexander Fleming on the battlefields led to his discovery of penicillin which revolutionised the treatment of bacterial infections and supports so much of modern medicine. Ground breaking research and mass production capabilities meant a plethora of effective, affordable and easily accessible treatments against different types of microbes.2 Nevertheless, accessibility of treatments coupled with inappropriate administration of antibiotics has resulted in emerging antimicrobial resistance, placing us on the cusp of the postantibiotic era.3