Antimicrobial resistance: time for action

A time for action: antimicrobial resistance needs global response

Editorials 558 Given the magnitude and severity of the threat of antimicrobial resistance, it is a sign of progress that Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) are now developing national action plans in response to WHO's Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. 1 To accelerate these efforts, in April 2016 the Wellcome Trust held an interdisci-plinary international summit, ...

An Audit of Perioperative Antimicrobial Prophylaxis: Time to Take Action

Monitoring antimicrobial resistance for public health action.

Antibiotics are used both to treat infections in individual patients and in public health interventions to control disease outbreaks. In both circumstances the outcome, as measured by morbidity and mortality, is compromised by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the causative organism. Of necessity, antibiotics are frequently given empirically and their selection is based on presumptions of effic...

Antimicrobial resistance: Mechanisms of action of antimicrobial agents

Microorganisms coexist with other living organisms and exhibit the greatest genetic and metabolic activity. Microbes have evolved various mechanisms to survive pressure exerted by competitive environmental challenges. Infection is the invasion of the host by harmful microorganisms (microbial pathogens), which then multiply in close association with the host's tissues. Infections may differ in s...

Mechanisms of antimicrobial peptide action and resistance.

Antimicrobial peptides have been isolated and characterized from tissues and organisms representing virtually every kingdom and phylum, ranging from prokaryotes to humans. Yet, recurrent structural and functional themes in mechanisms of action and resistance are observed among peptides of widely diverse source and composition. Biochemical distinctions among the peptides themselves, target versu...