Resistance to Antimicrobians – A Global Problem with Sectoral Resolution

Mankind has been and still is constantly threatened by infectious diseases. Antimicrobials, used to treat infections, are considered one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century because they saved millions of lives from diseases that had a high mortality rate. Mankind has been and is still constantly threatened by infectious diseases. Antimicrobials, used to treat infections, are considered one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century because they saved millions of lives from diseases that had a high mortality rate. Current infectious pathology is worryingly extending due mainly to “globalization”, which confirms the current concept of “Infections Without Borders”. In this context, both the consumption of antimicrobial substances and, inherently, the resistance of the main pathogens involved have increased. Unfortunately, antimicrobials have become victims of their success because their abusive use in humans and animals has led to the emergence of resistance among clinically important pathogens. Each dose of antibiotic creates selective evolutionary pressures, resulting in pandemic spread of highly resistant bacterial clones. Resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to human health. A return to the pre-antibiotic era would not only make possible the development of epidemics caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, a major threat to the population, but would also jeopardize some of the most valuable therapies in modern medicine, such as transplantation and immunosuppressive chemotherapy programmes –dependent on supportive antimicrobial treatments. [More]