The future history of vancomycin-resistant bacteriums and the thriving black market trade in antibacterial plastics. Setting the stage for Filthy Lucre, and a fear of all procedures that break the skin.

2018, March - Group A Streptococcus bacteria mutation is isolated by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. This mutation, the "Yucatan" strain, is singled out because it results primarily in "invasive Group A Strep" infections as opposed to simple 'strep throat', which results in 80% of patients with GAS infections suffering from necrotizing fasciitis [neck-row-tize-ing fash-e-i-tis] (a disease which eats away the tissues of the host body, resulting in amputations and a 20% mortality rate) and/or streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), which causes blood pressure to drop rapidly and organs (e.g., kidney, liver, lungs) to fail. More threateningly, the Yucatan strain was determined to be nearly 100% vancomycin resistant, thus making it the first deadly bacterial disease that is immune to all known antibiotic treatments.

2018, May - Three new strains of Group A Streptococcus with nearly identical infection rates and immunities as the Yucatan strain are isolated by the CDC, Health Canada and the World Health Organization. These strains, "Yucatan-3", "Alberta" and "Madagascar-2" were the last to be reported by name outside of medical journals. Over the next four years, no fewer than 60 strains of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus and then hundreds of strains of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcal and Pneumococcal isolates are identified and redtagged' by health organizations around the world.

2020, January - The United Nations-backed World Health Organization's treaty banning the non-institutional use and sale of antibacterial plastics, soaps and other antibacterials is passed into law in the United States, Japan, Canada and the European Union. During 2011 and 2012, a majority of countries become signatories to the Savannah Protocols. Those few countries that do not sign on to the Savannah Protocols for the Reduction of Antibacterial Resistant Strains become havens for small companies that continue to produce commercial antibiotics as well as Microban antibacterial-impregnated plastic toys and household products.

Now
Antibiotics are only prescribed in emergencies and against diseases and syndromes that are 100% certain to be bacterial in origin.

Antibacterials are illegal outside of hospitals and doctors' offices.

There is thriving black market on microban plastics manufactured in the Congo and several small island nations.

Theft of antibiotics from medical facilities is rampant.

Lower-income families who cannot afford to live in so-called 'contaminant reduced areas' desperately seek out any source of antibacterial protection for their children.

Medical procedures are considered to be an 'unnecessary risk' for most citizens, and transdermal implants are particularly risky as they are slow to heal and quick to become infected. Even the human body's own defensive Stapholococcal bacterium have become offensive to someone with open wounds.