The biological cost of antibiotic resistance.
The frequency and rates of ascent and dissemination of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations are anticipated to be directly related to the volume of antibiotic use and inversely related to the cost that resistance imposes on the fitness of bacteria. The data available from recent laboratory studies suggest that most, but not all, resistance-determining mutations and accessory elements engender some fitness cost, but those costs are likely to be ameliorated by subsequent evolution.
Andersson
D I
DI
Department of Bacteriology Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control S-17182, Solna, Sweden. Dan.Andersson@smi.ki.se.
Levin
B R
BR
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents