ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: OVERVIEW AND MECHANISMS

Antibiotics have a well-documented efficacy in the treatment of established infections and as prophylactic agents in medically compromised patients. Antibiotics use is suggested to be a major risk factor for development of antibiotic resistance. Resistance to antimicrobials is emerging at an alarming rate that has reduced treatment options for nearly every pathogen infecting humans. Many bacteria now display a variety of mechanisms that help protect them during antimicrobial exposure. These include production of beta-lactamases and cephalosporinases, alterations in penicillin-binding proteins, multidrug efflux pumps, transferable resistance to vancomycin, and mutations in genes encoding DNA gyrase. This article gives information about how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance, new era of antimicrobial therapeutics and new strategies to eliminate antibiotic resistance.