"We now try to judge whether [a drug will cause] resistant bacteria to develop and what would happen if it were transferred to humans," says Linda Tollefson, a doctor of veterinary medicine and deputy director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Both audiences will find eminently compact descriptions of the major mechanisms that enable bacteria to develop and pass on resistant traits, the hurdles that pharmaceutical companies face in developing new antimicrobial drugs, the dilemmas doctors and patients face in finding better ways to use drugs, and a thoughtful appraisal of possible future trends.
Using just one of the two drugs makes it easier for the bacterium to develop resistance.
So is the over-use of antibiotics, which is causing strains of bacteria to develop resistance, and thus to spread infections.
Mark Baker, director of clinical practice at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), has warned that the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance, in which the profligate use of drugs has allowed bacteria to develop resistance, threatened healthcare and the "whole basis of medicine".
In spite of the availability of antibiotic and vaccine treatments, the undesirable environmental impact of antibiotic treatments, the rapid evolution of bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics and of viruses to escape vaccine protection illustrate the need for additional control strategies that can provide a useful complement to the currently used interventions to control disease [ 1].
Besides fearing a risk of cancer, health experts have also expressed concern that residues of antibiotics in milk and meat could cause bacteria to develop immunity to the drugs and reduce their effectiveness in treating illness in humans.
The novel combination was assessed for antimicrobial effects against a range of Gram positive and negative bacteria to develop novel stable formulations to combat drug resistant bacterial infections.
But missing doses and quitting too soon are precisely what cause drug-resistant bacteria to develop — requiring even longer treatment with more drugs and nastier side effects.
