Antimicrobial Resistance

This book discusses antibiotic resistance and some of the organisms that pose immediate, serious, and alarming dangers. It highlights the need for a broader, more comprehensive approach to fighting bacterial infections, which may involve non-compound techniques (other than standard antibacterial drugs) that target bacteria or the host, such as antibodies, probiotics, phytobiotics, and vaccinations.

Antibiotics have drastically improved the health and life expectancy of humans, yet the abrupt increase of antibiotic usage for animals, agriculture and healthcare has induced antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is leading to resurgence of deadly infectious diseases, calling for new cures. This book presents advanced therapies based on new and complementary drugs, and alternative techniques and strategies, such as phages, probiotics, flavonoids, essential oils, cellulose, peptides, nano delivery, iron starvation and vaccines.

Antibiotics, the backbone of modern clinical-medicine, are facing serious challenges from emerging antimicrobial-resistance (AMR), a complicated phenomenon expanding in bacterial species, from nosocomial to community origins, where microbes are no longer sensitive to a range of commonly used antibiotics. AMR has exploded in recent years and is posing a serious threat to human health and survival.

According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to global health because the number of alternative antibiotics is very limited. Antimicrobial resistance is a slow evolutionary process that has been accelerated by human activities in health, environment and agriculture sectors. Due to their wide application, antibiotics and their residues have been found in almost all food products and natural ecosystems. This book reviews the drivers, impact and mitigation of antimicrobial resistance, with focus on methods and targets.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasing globally at an incredible rate, and many infectious diseases have already reached an alarming stage of resistance to existing treatments. WHO reports that nearly1.27 million people currently die each year due to resistant infections, and AMR is projected to account for 10 million annual deaths globally by 2050. There is an urgent need for novel approaches to address this issue. Omics technologies are powerful research tools used extensively to study pathogen biology and the activity of microbial agents. These tools, paired with systems biology approaches, can provide novel insights into antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance, and aid in the development of new, more effective measures to combat resistant pathogens.

Antibiotics, the backbone of modern clinical-medicine, are facing serious challenges from emerging antimicrobial-resistance (AMR), a complicated phenomenon expanding in bacterial species, from nosocomial to community origins, where microbes are no longer sensitive to a range of commonly used antibiotics. AMR has exploded in recent years and is posing a serious threat to human health and survival. This necessitates novel and effective ways of diagnosis, drug-delivery, and treatment; nanotechnology and advanced nanomaterials are hailed as a potent solution in containing AMR.

This book aims to provide some insight into various molecular mechanisms, agricultural mitigation methods, and the One Health applications to maybe, just maybe, tip the scales towards us.

This is a comprehensive tool covering all manifestations of antimicrobial resistance, with viral, bacterial, parasitical and fungal resistance each given a dedicated section. The underlining molecular mechanisms, which depend not only on the microbe, but on the specific drug (target), are highly diverse, and are covered in great detail. This work also discusses and compares the biological, biochemical and structural aspects of resistance and its evolution.

This book contains information on epidemiology, resistance mechanisms, and alternative ways to curtail S. aureus infection, as well as future research opportunities.