[Sherman Logan]

many infections are often far more dangerous today than they were prior to penicillin

Possibly a minor point.

This is simply not true. When bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics, they simply return to being about as deadly as before antibiotics were available.

Which is plenty deadly. If not for antibiotics, I myself would have had my left arm amputated probably twice or quite possibly have died.

People forget how deadly bacteria used to be.

[wagglebee]

Actually, I wasn't clear before. The infections are worse because of mutations that create new bacteria. For instance, MRSA isn't known to have existed before the early 1960s and didn't become widespread until the late 1990s.

But you are correct, they aren't actually stronger, they are just more resistant to what we have available.