title: [Interpretation of bacterial susceptibility/resistance to antibiotics].
abstract: Bacterial resistance may be defined from a microbiological, clinical and pharmacological perspective. Microbiological resistance refers to the presence of genetic information coding for the relevant mechanism of resistance of a bacterium to a particular antibiotic. In case of clinical interpretation, breakpoints are of key importance as their role is to distinguish bacterial pathogens in which successful therapy is highly probable from isolates with a high likelihood of failure. However, it is questionable whether this approach is suitable for all patients, particularly those receiving intensive care for life-threatening infections. A pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic definition of resistance may be understood as comprehensive since it allows consideration of all parameters, especially the patient's clinical condition, site of infection, minimum inhibitory concentration of a specific antimicrobial agent and its concentration in the relevant tissue. In that case, determination of bacterial susceptibility or resistance is more personalized and allows more targeted antibiotic therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, e-mail: milan.kolar@fnol.cz.
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolář
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents