News > Looming behind antibiotic resistance is another bacterial threat – antibiotic tolerance

Looming behind antibiotic resistance is another bacterial threat – antibiotic tolerance

Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem, contributing to nearly 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019. But antibiotic tolerance is a threat that researchers have recently begun to explore. Antibiotic tolerance happens when a bacterium survives for a long time after antibiotic exposure. While antibiotic-resistant bacteria flourish even in the presence of an antibiotic, tolerant bacteria exist in a dormant state, until they can “reawaken” once the stress is gone.