Antimicrobial chemotherapy undergoes a global crisis. The nineties brought the unprecedented spread of resistance of main pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, with an extent and intensity varying from negligible to threatening, depending largely on the local or regional or nationwide approach to prescribing antibiotics. In some reqions the microbial multiresistance led to various bacterial infections becoming untreatable, however, substantial increase of costs of antibacterial chemotherapy - somewhere even prohibitive - has been felt everywhere, depending on the necessity of using reserve drugs instead of basic ones. In he mid of nineties, the advent of a post-antibiotic era seemed almost inevitable. Concentrated efforts aimed at rationalizing the antibiotic usage, at decreasing the useless prescribing, at creating antibiotic policies as well as the development of new at the antibacterials have diminished the danger, at least for some time. Brief descriptions of new drugs (linezolide, quinupristine/dalfoprostine, new chinolones and naphythyridones and telithromycine) are given and some other, in the near future possibly useful antibacterials (daptomycine, glycycyclines, oral carbapenems and trinems) are mentioned as well as some new ways of antibacterial research. In a long-term view, however, rationalization of antibiotic prescribing is the only and irreplaceable mean of maintaining the efficacy of antibacterial chemotherapy at acceptable costs.

        Key words: antibiotics, antimicrobial chemotherapy, microbial multiresistance, pathogenic bacteria.