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Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections
Antibiotics and similar drugs, together called antimicrobial agents, have been used for the last 70 years to
treat patients who have infectious diseases. Since the 1940s, these drugs have greatly reduced illness and
death from infectious diseases. Antibiotic use has been beneficial and, when prescribed and taken
correctly, their value in patient care is enormous. However, these drugs have been used so widely and for
so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the
drugs less effective. Many fungi, viruses, and parasites have done the same. Some microorganisms may
develop resistance to a single antimicrobial agent (or related class of agent), while others develop
resistance to several antimicrobial agents or classes. These organisms are often referred to as multidrug-
resistant or MDR strains. In some cases, the microorganisms have become so resistant that no available
antibiotics are effective against them.
Trends in Drug Resistance
• Reports of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) -a potentially dangerous type of
staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics and may cause skin and other infections-in
persons with no links to healthcare systems have been observed with increasing frequency in the
United States and elsewhere around the globe
• The agricultural use of antibiotics in food-producing animals also contributes to the emergence,
persistence, and spread of resistant bacteria. Resistant bacteria can be transmitted to humans
through the foods we eat
• Multi-drug resistant Klebsiella species and Escherichia coli have been isolated in hospitals
throughout the United States.
• Antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae infections have significantly declined, but remain a
concern in some populations.
Treated with Bacteriophages
Bacteriophages can be an effective alternative to antibiotics for treatment of the following species of drug-
resistant bacteria:
• Staphylococcus spp. (more than one species) including Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) and Community Acquired Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA).
• Streptococcus spp.
• Enterococcus spp.
• E. coli
• Klebsiella spp.
• Proteus spp.
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Salmonella spp.
• Shigella spp.
• Several Other Bacterial Strains that are Emerging as Significant Challenges Even to the Most
Advanced Antibiotics
• Bacterial Infections Complicated with Candida and Other Yeast / Fungi
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