Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has ceased to be a threat to the future-it is silently spreading like a pandemic around the globe. Even infections that were previously treated with medicines that used to be effective, the same medicines are gradually becoming ineffective, and as a result, many diseases are becoming harder and sometimes impossible to cure, even in hospitals, communities, farms, and even in nature. The review provides a detailed, balanced overview of the situation with AMR in the world based on international surveillance data, recent scientific research, and the policy developments that have been announced between 2017 and 2025. In contrast to most of the preceding reviews, the current work puts a significant emphasis on new but frequently underestimated aspects of AMR, such as the place of wastewater monitoring, environmental reservoirs, and the presence of advanced technologies, including biosensors and artificial intelligence, to detect it in real-time and fast. One of the strengths of this work is the fact that it addresses the aspects that have been generally understudied in the past, specifically the environmental pathways and wastewater-based surveillance, as well as new diagnostic tools such as metagenomics and sensor-based diagnostics. The article also examines new treatment trends that extend beyond the traditional antibiotics, including bacteriophage therapy, antimicrobial peptides, immune-based therapies, and gene-editing technology, including CRISPR-Cas. The patterns of resistance in India are discussed in relation to the patterns throughout the world, with some alarming similarities, which have made the importance of intervention very high. Contextualized in the One Health approach, the review highlights the close interdependence of the human, animal, and environmental conditions in the genesis of AMR as well as its transmission. Not only a list of scientific discoveries, but this review can also be taken as a potent plea for better surveillance systems, equal access to effective treatment, and cooperation among the domains. Unless global action is taken now, the decades of gains made in the modern medical field may be overturned by AMR. Nonetheless, this rising crisis can be slowed-and possibly contained through innovation, policy commitment, and shared responsibility.
Sharma et al. (2026) studied this question.