title: Why is antibiotic resistance a deadly emerging disease?
abstract: Evolution of bacteria towards resistance to antimicrobial agents, including multidrug resistance, is unavoidable because it represents a particular aspect of the general evolution of bacteria that is unstoppable. Therefore, the only means of dealing with this situation is to delay the emergence and subsequent dissemination of resistant bacteria or resistance genes. In this review, we will consider the biochemical mechanisms and the genetics that bacteria use to offset antibiotic selective pressure. The data provided are mainly, if not exclusively, taken from the work carried out in the laboratory, although there are numerous other examples in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Unité des Agents Antibactériens, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. Electronic address: patrice.courvalin@pasteur.fr.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Courvalin
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D006801:Humans; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antibiotic resistance; biochemical mechanisms; emerging disease; genetics of dissemination; resistance evolution