Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria A Challenge To Modern Medicine

This book summarizes the emerging trends in the field of antibiotic resistance of various gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial species. The ability of different species of bacteria to resist the antimicrobial agent has become a global problem. As such, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the advances in our understanding of the origin and mechanism of resistance, discusses the modern concept of the biochemical and genetic basis of antibacterial resistance and highlights the clinical and economic implications of the increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistant pathogens and their ecotoxic effects. It also reviews various strategies to curtail the emergence and examines a number of innovative therapeutic approaches, such as CRISPR, phage therapy, nanoparticles and natural antimicrobials, to combat the spread of resistance.

The National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, published in 2014, sets out a plan for government work to mitigate the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria. Direction on the implementation of this strategy is provided in five-year national action plans, the first covering 2015 to 2020, and the second covering 2020 to 2025. Combating Antimicrobial Resistance and Protecting the Miracle of Modern Medicine evaluates progress made against the national strategy. This report discusses ways to improve detection of resistant infections and estimate the risk to human health from environmental sources of resistance. In addition, the report considers the effect of agricultural practices on human and animal health and animal welfare and ways these practices could be improved, and advises on key drugs and diseases for which animal-specific test breakpoints are needed.

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains remain a major global threat, despite the prevention, diagnosis and antibiotherapy, which have improved considerably. In this thematic issue, the scientists present their results of accomplished studies, in order to provide an updated overview of scientific information and also, to exchange views on new strategies for interventions in antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains cases and outbreaks. As a consequence, the recently developed techniques in this field will contribute to a considerable progress in medical research.

In ten years’ time, will antibiotics still work? Have we let bacteria get the upper hand in the evolutionary arms race? In the 1920s the discovery of the antibiotic penicillin started a golden age of medicine. However, experts warn that the end of that age may be just a decade away. In this BWB Text, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles explores the looming crisis of antibiotic resistance and its threat to New Zealand. Wiles concludes that New Zealand must do more to protect the public from a future without antibiotics.

Humans coexist with millions of harmless microorganisms, but emerging diseases, resistance to antibiotics, and the threat of bioterrorism are forcing scientists to look for new ways to confront the microbes that do pose a danger. This report identifies innovative approaches to the development of antimicrobial drugs and vaccines based on a greater understanding of how the human immune system interacts with both good and bad microbes. The report concludes that the development of a single superdrug to fight all infectious agents is unrealistic.

Drug Discovery Targeting Drug-Resistant Bacteria explores the status and possible future of developments in fighting drug-resistant bacteria. The book covers the majority of microbial diseases and the drugs targeting them. In addition, it discusses the potential targeting strategies and innovative approaches to address drug resistance. It brings together academic and industrial experts working on discovering and developing drugs targeting drug-resistant (DR) bacterial pathogens. New drugs active against drug-resistant pathogens are discussed, along with new strategies being used to discover molecules acting via new modes of action. In addition, alternative therapies such as peptides and phages are included. Pharmaceutical scientists, microbiologists, medical professionals, pathologists, researchers in the field of drug discovery, infectious diseases and microbial drug discovery both in academia and in industrial settings will find this book helpful. Written by scientists with extensive industrial experience in drug discovery Provides a balanced view of the field, including its challenges and future directions Includes a special chapter on the identification and development of drugs against pathogens which exhibit the potential to be used as weapons of war

"What is antibiotic resistance, and why should I care?" Two decades after the first edition of Revenge of the Microbes: How Bacterial Resistance is Undermining the Antibiotic Miracle warned of the looming threat of antibiotic resistance, it is now upon us. Not only has the spread of antibiotic resistance continued unabated, but the emergence of multidrug-resistant “superbugs” is poised to set medical progress back centuries. Several distinct biological, social, economic, and technological factors have resulted in us only barely keeping pace with these new threats. In this edition of Revenge of the Microbes, the authors detail the intricacies of the antibiotic-microbe arms race. Beginning with a historical perspective on antibiotics and their profound impact on both modern medicine and present-day society, they review our current arsenal against infectious diseases and the various ways pathogens evade or overcome them. The authors examine the practices and policies driving the discovery and development of new antibiotics, what happens to antibiotics once they are released into the environment, how antibiotic-resistant bacteria evolve and spread, and the urgency for finding alternative approaches to combating infections. This discussion of the controversies surrounding antibiotics will empower readers—citizen scientists, policy makers, pharmaceutical researchers, and medical professionals alike—to generate informed opinions on antibiotic usage and stewardship as we contend with fewer effective antibiotics. Reader-friendly and comprehensible, this new edition of Revenge of the Microbes engages a diverse audience of scientists, clinicians, educators, students, lawyers, environmentalists, and public health advocates as it explores the ever-changing landscape of the antibiotic resistance crisis.

Antibiotics represent one of the most successful forms of therapy in medicine. But the efficiency of antibiotics is compromised by the growing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Antibiotic resistance, which is implicated in elevated morbidity and mortality rates as well as in the increased treatment costs, is considered to be one of the major global public health threats (www.who.int/drugresistance/en/) and the magnitude of the problem recently prompted a number of international and national bodies to take actions to protect the public (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/docs/road-map-amr_en.pdf: http://www.who.int/drugresistance/amr_global_action_plan/en/; http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/carb_national_strategy.pdf). Understanding the mechanisms by which bacteria successfully defend themselves against the antibiotic assault represent the main theme of this eBook published as a Research Topic in Frontiers in Microbiology, section of Antimicrobials, Resistance, and Chemotherapy. The articles in the eBook update the reader on various aspects and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. A better understanding of these mechanisms should facilitate the development of means to potentiate the efficacy and increase the lifespan of antibiotics while minimizing the emergence of antibiotic resistance among pathogens.