The threat of multiresistant microorganisms.
Enthusiasm about newly developed antimicrobial agents and disappointment because of the development of resistance have been alternating in the decades since the introduction of antibacterial chemotherapy around 1940. During the last few years several mechanisms of bacterial resistance have been elucidated, and new insights into the genetic basis of multiresistance have been gained. The clinical implications of multiresistance depend on timely recognition of the problem, i.e. knowledge of the epidemiology of multiresistant microorganisms and the availability of alternative drugs. A particular problem arises from the fact that infections with multiresistant microorganisms often occur in the most critically ill patients.
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Utrecht University Hospital, The Netherlands.
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CM
Vandenbroucke-Grauls
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D011815:R Factors; D017211:Treatment Failure
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements