Abstract—Antibiotics are currently the most effective treatment against bacterial infections, and it has saved millions of lives since it was first discovered. However, due to the overuse and misuse of these medications, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is increasing rapidly worldwide, meaning that almost all modern medical advancements can be jeopardized, thus affecting clinical and therapeutic outcomes. This may lead to treatment failures and death due to infection after surgical and chemotherapy treatments, where antibiotics are given prophylactically. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are already causing immense clinical and financial burdens to patients and their families. Therefore, understanding some mechanisms of resistance present in bacteria due to resistant genes to combat the mechanism of action of antibiotics is crucial to designing new drugs. This review article discusses the discovered major self-resistance mechanisms of bacteria, the origins of resistance, consequences of multi-drug resistance bacteria as well as new emerging weapons against this complication. Moreover, the action of the human immune system will also be addressed in this article, as it may facilitate the development of the next generation of therapy, known as immuno-antibiotics, which is less susceptible to resistance development due to its indirect involvement in treatment.  
 

Keywords—antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, infection, bacteria, biofilm, innate and adaptive immunity, immuno-antibiotics