Prevalence, consequences, and solutions.
Since the early development of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance has continued to emerge as a formidable adversary in the fight against infectious disease. Once an issue confined to hospitals, antibiotic resistance has now invaded communities, targeting not only the immunocompromised patient, but also those who are immunocompetent. To stem this crisis, researchers have developed more powerful and more costly antibiotics, which have only complicated the resistance problem. Education of the patient and the prescriber, as well as antimicrobial stewardship programs, are necessary to avert a global antibiotic resistance catastrophe.
Maki
Dennis G
DG
Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. dgmaki@medicine.wisc.edu
Safdar
Nasia
N
Ebert
Steven C
SC
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D015995:Prevalence
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents