Investigating antibiotic resistance in non-clinical environments

There have been many calls for more information about the natural resistome andthese have also highlighted the importance of understanding the soil resistome inthe preservation of antibiotics for the treatment of infections. However, to datethere have been few studies which have investigated the culturable soil resistome,which highlights the difficulties faced by microbiologists in designing theseexperiments to produce meaningful data. The World Health Organization definitionof resistance is the most fitting to non-clinical environmental studies: antimicrobialresistance is resistance of a microorganism to an antimicrobial medicine to which itwas previously sensitive. The ideal investigation of non-clinical environments forantibiotic resistance of clinical relevance would be using standardized guidelinesand breakpoints. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolvemechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials (drugs used totreat infections). All classes of microbes can evolve resistance where the drugs areno longer effective. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance, viruses evolve antiviralresistance, protozoa evolve antiprotozoal resistance, and bacteria evolve antibioticresistance. Together all of these come under the umbrella of antimicrobialresistance. Microbes resistant to multiple antimicrobials are called multidrugresistant (MDR) and are sometimes referred to as superbugs. Althoughantimicrobial resistance is a naturally occurring process, it is often the result ofimproper usage of the drugs and management of the infections.

کلیدواژه ها:

Resistance ، Drugs ، Antibiotic ، AMR