Antibiotic resistance: the current position and the molecular mechanisms involved
Hayward, C.M.; Griffin, G.E.
British Journal of Hospital Medicine 52(9): 473-478
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0007-1064 PMID: 7874363 Document Number: 437179
The introduction of antibiotics heralded a new era in the chemotherapy of infectious diseases, but over the ensuing years bacterial evolutionary responses to the selective pressure of antibiotics have resulted in microorganisms resistant to virtually every known antibiotic. The consequences have been very important in clinical practice, as patients infected with a multi-resistant organism suffer increased morbidity and mortality and often require the use of expensive and potentially toxic antibiotic regimens in order to achieve effective, specific treatment.