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Antibacterial resistance worldwide: causes, challenges and responses

Nature Medicine volume 10, pages S122–S129 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The optimism of the early period of antimicrobial discovery has been tempered by the emergence of bacterial strains with resistance to these therapeutics. Today, clinically important bacteria are characterized not only by single drug resistance but also by multiple antibiotic resistance—the legacy of past decades of antimicrobial use and misuse. Drug resistance presents an ever-increasing global public health threat that involves all major microbial pathogens and antimicrobial drugs.

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Figure 1: Post-therapeutic effects of antibiotic dispersion.

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  1. Departments of Molecular Biology and Microbiology and of Medicine, Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, 02111, Massachusetts, USA

    Stuart B Levy & Bonnie Marshall

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Levy, S., Marshall, B. Antibacterial resistance worldwide: causes, challenges and responses. Nat Med 10 (Suppl 12), S122–S129 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1145

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