Introduction
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of pathogenic microorganisms to withstand the effect of an antimicrobial drug, thus allowing them to survive the exposure, continue growth, and spread further. Infections with microorganisms which are resistant against certain antimicrobial drugs are difficult to treat and can often result in the death of the patient due to therapy failure – accounting for an estimated 700,000 deaths per year, worldwide (O’Neill 2016). Just as bacteria can develop and acquire resistance against antibiotics, other microorganisms can also develop and acquire resistance: viruses against antivirals, helminths against antihelminthics, protozoans against antiprotozoals, and so forth.
Development and Acquisition of Antimicrobial Resistance
Some bacteria are inherently resistant to specific antibiotic classes, which often goes hand in hand with the ability of the specific bacterial strain to produce a compound structurally related with antibiotic...
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References
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Further Reading
Center for Disease Dynamics, E. & P. (2015). State of the world’s antibiotics, 2015. Retrieved from https://www.cddep.org/publications/state_worlds_antibiotics_2015/
Munita, J. M., & Arias, C. A. (2016). Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Microbiology Spectrum, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1128/microbiolspec.VMBF-0016-2015.
O’Neill, J. (2016). Antimicrobial resistance: Tackling a crisis for the health and wealth of nations. Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.
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Popella, P. (2019). Antimicrobial Resistance. In: Romaniuk, S., Thapa, M., Marton, P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_517-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_517-1
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