Impact of Biofilm Infection and its Treatment

Microorganisms are generally attached to the environment and create an extracellular matrix of polysaccharide material which finally leads to the formation of biofilms. These biofilms occur as a result of interaction between the extracellular polysaccharide material and microbial cells. They have several advantages and disadvantages. The drawbacks of these biofilms are that it causes chronic bacterial infection, infection on medical devices, contamination of food, deterioration of water quantity etc. This leads to serious problems for living and non-living organisms. It is due to the fact that the augmented resistance of biofilm associates with the organisms to form antimicrobial agents and these organisms have the potential to cause infections in patients with inherent medical devices. In hospital, the formation of biofilms on medical equipment and vents allow group of microscopic organisms to persist as reservoirs that can readily cause diseases by directly attacking the body tissues which spread to other patients too. Biofilm infections have a major role to play in the clinical decisionmaking process. This paper describes about the analysis of biofilm formation and also reviews the existing and propagative mechanisms of biofilms in the natural environment. The possible therapeutic approaches and antibiotics treatment in order to overcome the harmful effects of microbial biofilms are also reviewed