Pentti Huovinen, National Public Health Institute, Turku, Finland
Published online: January 2003
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0002003
Antimicrobial resistance of microbes is a major threat to public health. Control of this problem is essential to maintain the efficacy of antimicrobial agents.
Keywords: antibiotic; antimicrobial agent; bacterial resistance; consumption of antibiotics
| References | |
| proceedings Austin DJ, Bonten MJM, Weinstein RA, Slaughter S and Anderson RM (1999) Vancomycin-resistant enterococci in intensive-care hospital settings: Transmission dynamics, persistence, and the impact of infection control programs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 96: 6908–6913. | |
| Cohen ML (1992) Epidemiology of drug resistance: implications for a post-antibiotic era. Science 257: 1050–1055. | |
| Doebbeling BN, Stanley GL, Sheetz CT et al. (1992) Comparative efficacy of alternative hand-washing agents in reducing nosocomial infections in intensive care units. New England Journal of Medicine 327: 88–93. | |
| book House of Lords (1998) Resistance to Antibiotics and Other Antimicrobial Agents. London: The Stationery Office. | |
| Huovinen P and Cars O (1998) Control of antibiotic resistance: time for action. British Medical Journal 317: 613. | |
| Jones RN and Pfaller MA (1998) Bacterial resistance: a worldwide problem. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease 2: 379–388. | |
| book Lenski RE (1997) "The cost of antibiotic resistance – from the perspective of the bacterium". In: Chadwick DJ and Goode J (eds) CIBA Foundation Symposium 207: Antibiotic Resistance: Origins, Evolution, Selection and Spread. Chichester, UK: John Wiley. | |
| McDermott W and Rogers DE (1982) Social ramifications of control of microbial disease. Johns Hopkins Medical Journal 151: 302–312. | |
| Neu HC (1992) The crisis in antibiotic resistance. Science 257: 1064–1068. | |
| Newton P and White N (1999) Malaria: new developments in treatment and prevention. Annual Review of Medicine 50: 179–192. | |
| Novak R, Henriques B, Charpentier E, Normark S and Tuomanen E (1999) Emergence of vancomycin tolerance in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Nature 399: 590–593. | |
| Pablos-Mendez A, Raviglione MC, Laszlo A et al. (1998) Global surveillance for antituberculosis-drug resistance, 1994–1997. New England Journal of Medicine 338: 1641–1649. | |
| Panlilio AL, Culver DH, Gaynes RP et al. (1992) Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in US hospitals, 1975–1991. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 10: 582–586. | |
| Schwartz B, Bell DM and Hughes JM (1997) Preventing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. A call for action by clinicians, public health officials, and patients. Journal of American Medical Association 278: 944–945. | |
| Seppälä H, Klaukka T, Vuopio-Varkila J et al. (1997) The effect of changes in the consumption of macrolide antibiotics on erythromycin resistance in group A streptococci in Finland. New England Journal of Medicine 337: 441–446. | |
| book SMAC (Standing Medical Advisory Committee) Report (1998) The Path of Least Resistance. Department of Health, United Kingdom. | |
| Smith HS, Hughes JP, Hooton TM et al. (1997) Antecedent antimicrobial use increases the risk of uncomplicated cystitis in young women. Clinical Infectious Diseases 25: 63–68. | |
| Smith TL, Pearson ML, Wilcox KR et al. (1999) Emergence of vancomycin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. New England Journal of Medicine 340: 493–501. | |
| Vincent J-L, Bihari DJ, Suter PM et al. (1995) The prevalence of nosocomial infection in intensive care units in Europe. Journal of the American Medical Association 274: 639–644. | |
| Weis SE, Slocum PC, Blais FX et al. (1994) The effect of directly observed therapy on the rates of drug resistance and relapse in tuberculosis. New England Journal of Medicine 330: 1179–1184. | |
| book WHO (1999) International Travel and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization. | |
| Further Reading | |
| Bryan JL, Cohran J and Larson EL (1995) Hand washing: a ritual revisited. Infection and Control in Critical Care 7: 617–625. | |
| Casadevall A and Scharff MD (1995) Return to the past: the case for antibody-based therapies in infectious diseases. Clinical Infectious Diseases 21: 150–161. | |
| book Dixon B (1994) Power Unseen. How Microbes Rule the World. Oxford: WH Freeman. | |
| other Economic and Social Committee of the European Communities (1998) Catalogue Number ESC-98-016-EN, Brussels. | |
| book Levy SB (1992) The Antibiotic Paradox. How Miracle Drugs are Destroying the Miracle. New York: Plenum Press. | |
| Shlaes DM, Gerding DN, John JF et al. (1997) Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and Infectious Diseases Society of America Joint Committee on the Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance: Guidelines for the prevention of antimicrobial resistance in hospitals. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 18: 275–291. | |
Copyright © 2000-2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., or related companies. All rights reserved.
