Can Antibiotic Resistance be Controlled?

Abstract

Several reports in this issue of the Journal deal with the potentially disastrous situation of antibiotic resistance¹³. The current antibiotic-resistance crisis differs from those of the past because several different organisms are involved and because there are no immediate solutions on the horizon. The consequences of resistance include higher mortality and greater morbidity, such as neurologic damage in children in whom meningitis is caused by a pneumococcus not recognized as resistant or for which alternatives to first-line antibiotic therapy are less effective. Infections with organisms resistant to antimicrobial agents lead to longer hospitalizations and greater expense,⁴ as exemplified . . .