Biofilm Based Healthcare Associated Infections Biofilm Formation By Clinical Isolates And Its Relevance To Clinical Infections

Approximately 60% of all hospital-associated infections, over one million cases per year, are due to biofilms that have formed on indwelling medical devices. Device-related biofilm infections increase hospital stays and add over one billion dollars/year to U.S. hospitalization costs. Since the use and the types of indwelling medical devices commonly used in modern healthcare are continuously expanding, especially with an aging population, the incidence of biofilm infections will also continue to rise. The central problem with microbial biofilm infections of foreign bodies is their propensity to resist clearance by the host immune system and all antimicrobial agents tested to date. In fact, compared to their free floating, planktonic counterparts, microbes within a biofilm are 50 – 500 times more resistant to antimicrobial agents. Therefore, achieving therapeutic and non-lethal dosing regimens within the human host is impossible. The end result is a conversion from an acute infection to one that is persistent, chronic, and recurrent, most often requiring device removal in order to eliminate the infection. This text will describe the major types of device-related infections, and will explain the host, pathogen, and the unique properties of their interactions in order to gain a better understanding of these recalcitrant infections.

The aim of this book is to provide readers with a wide overview of the main healthcare-associated infections caused by bacteria and fungi able to grow as biofilm. The recently acquired knowledge on the pivotal role played by biofilm-growing microorganisms in healthcare-related infections has given a new dynamic to detection, prevention and treatment of these infections in patients admitted to both acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities. Clinicians, hygienists and microbiologists will be updated by leading scientists on the state-of-art of biofilm-based infections and on the most innovative strategies for prevention and treatment of these infections, often caused by emerging multidrug-resistant biofilm-growing microorganisms.

The aim of this book is to provide readers with a wide overview of the main healthcare-associated infections caused by bacteria and fungi able to grow as biofilm. The recently acquired knowledge on the pivotal role played by biofilm-growing microorganisms in healthcare-related infections has given a new dynamic to detection, prevention and treatment of these infections in patients admitted to both acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities. Clinicians, hygienists and microbiologists will be updated by leading scientists on the state-of-art of biofilm-based infections and on the most innovative strategies for prevention and treatment of these infections, often caused by emerging multidrug-resistant biofilm-growing microorganisms.

Biofilms are ubiquitous and their presence in industry can lead to production losses. However, nowhere do biofilms impact human health and welfare as much as those that are found contaminating the healthcare environment, surgical instruments, equipment, and medical implantable devices. Approximately 70% of healthcare-associated infections are due to biofilm formation, resulting in increased patient morbidity and mortality. Biofilms formed on medical implants are recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment, which leaves implant removal as the principal treatment option. In this book, we investigate the role of biofilms in breast and dental implant disease and cancer. We include in vitro models for investigating treatment of chronic wounds and disinfectant action against Candida sp. Also included are papers on the most recent strategies for treating biofilm infection ranging from antibiotics incorporated into bone void fillers to antimicrobial peptides and quorum sensing.

Human tissues often support large, complex microbial communities growing as biofilms that can cause a variety of infections. As a result of an increased use of implanted medical devices, the incidence of these biofilm-associated diseases is increasing: the non-shedding surfaces of these devices provide ideal substrata for colonisation by biofilm-forming microbes. The consequences of this mode of growth are far-reaching. As microbes in biofilms exhibit increased tolerance towards antimicrobial agents and decreased susceptibility to host defence systems, biofilm-associated diseases are becoming increasingly difficult to treat. Not surprisingly, therefore, interest in biofilms has increased dramatically. The application of microscopic and molecular techniques has revolutionised our understanding of biofilm structure, composition, organisation, and activities, resulting in important advances in the prevention and treatment of biofilm-related diseases. The purpose of this book, which was first published in 2003, is to bring these advances to the attention of clinicians and medical researchers.

Bacterial biofilm is a complex structure with diverse bacterial cells in a highly organized and ordered group within a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances they produce. Microbes attach to surfaces to develop biofilms, a sophisticated process regulated by factors such as nutritional status and biotic/abiotic surface features. An established biofilm structure mainly comprises bacterial cells, proteins, nucleic acid, and exo-polysaccharides that are extracellular macromolecules excreted as tightly bound layers in microbes, providing a perfect niche for bacteria to exchange genetic material between cells. In addition, bacterial cells in the matrix also communicate via quorum sensing, which greatly impacts biofilm processes. Under clinical circumstances, bacterial biofilm shows great resistance to antibiotics, disinfectants, and body defense systems, making it difficult for clinicians to eradicate and facilitate many infectious disease processes, leading to chronic infections of patients with long-term hospitalization and high mortality rates. Therefore, it is very important to understand the recent advances in forming, regulating, and eradicating biofilms in human infections to better prevent, control, and treat biofilm infections in humans. Written by an international team of basic and clinical researchers, the chapters of this book provide novel insights and advanced knowledge for life science researchers, clinical researchers, doctors, and other interested readers on some of the latest developments in biofilms.

Throughout the biological world, bacteria thrive predominantly in surface-attached, matrix-enclosed, multicellular communities or biofilms, as opposed to isolated planktonic cells. This choice of lifestyle is not trivial, as it involves major shifts in the use of genetic information and cellular energy, and has profound consequences for bacterial physiology and survival. Growth within a biofilm can thwart immune function and antibiotic therapy and thereby complicate the treatment of infectious diseases, especially chronic and foreign device-associated infections. Modern studies of many important biofilms have advanced well beyond the descriptive stage, and have begun to provide molecular details of the structural, biochemical, and genetic processes that drive biofilm formation and its dispersion. There is much diversity in the details of biofilm development among various species, but there are also commonalities. In most species, environmental and nutritional conditions greatly influence biofilm development. Similar kinds of adhesive molecules often promote biofilm formation in diverse species. Signaling and regulatory processes that drive biofilm development are often conserved, especially among related bacteria. Knowledge of such processes holds great promise for efforts to control biofilm growth and combat biofilm-associated infections. This volume focuses on the biology of biofilms that affect human disease, although it is by no means comprehensive. It opens with chapters that provide the reader with current perspectives on biofilm development, physiology, environmental, and regulatory effects, the role of quorum sensing, and resistance/phenotypic persistence to antimicrobial agents during biofilm growth.