David Hooper, MD, chief of the infection control unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, recently discussed the mechanisms of bacteria that promote antimicrobial resistance to various drugs at the ASM Microbe 2016 meeting.
Here are three thoughts from Dr. Hooper, taken from a Healio video recorded the meeting.
1. "Even for drugs like fluoroquinolones, which are synthetic agents that have two targets within the bacterial cell…resistance has emerged."
2. "It was originally thought that fluoroquinolones would not have transferrable, plasma-mediated resistance — where the resistance mechanism would move from one organism to another — but a number of years ago, that was recognized and there have been several different ways the bacteria [can transfer]."
3. "This just highlights the importance of and need for new antimicrobials…as well as management of the drugs we have now with careful antibiotic stewardship. It also highlights the importance of infection control — careful infection control activities can reduce the likelihood the patient B will get patient A's resistant organisms."
To watch the full video, click here.
More articles on antibiotic resistance:
Europe's CDC enacts guidelines to control the spread of antibiotic-resistance gene
Americans underestimate threat of antibiotic resistance: 3 survey findings
Pond-dwelling virus may combat antibiotic resistance