FOREIGN AFFAIRS | The world is fixated on viruses thanks to COVID-19. Public and private sectors have mobilized extraordinary levels of resources in tackling the pandemic, including developing vaccines in record time and antiviral and antiretroviral treatments for the disease. In the process, however, another major microbial threat has been neglected. In a study published in The Lancet in January, researchers at the University of Washington estimated that 1.3 million people die each year from bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics. Such infections kill more people annually than do HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, and malaria. Antibiotic resistance causes more deaths than any infectious disease apart from COVID-19 and tuberculosis.