Antibiotic Resistance - A World Challenge

Antibiotic resistance is a worldwide health problem that continues to increase. The European Union and World Health Organization declared the rapid development of antimicrobial resistance as one of the three greatest threats to human health. In this paper are presented current data from literature and data of our own, concerning the increasing antibiotic resistance in the world. There was registered a significant increase in the proportion of multiresistant bacteria to the main groups of antimicrobials used in the clinical practice – third-generation of cephalosporins, carbapenems, quinolones, and aminoglycosides. Among the so-called multidrug-resistant or pandrug-resistant bacteria are Acinetobacter baumannii, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, multi-drug resistant), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Klebsiella species and Escherichia coli, and others. Indication for the significance of the problem in military settings is the determination of an increase in the number of reported multidrug-resistant A. baumannii in bloodstream and wound infections in US soldiers at military medical facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afganistan. In this context, at the EU-US Summit in November 2009 were made decisions and developed strategies, which could be better addressed by cooperation between the United States and Europe for improving of the use of antibacterial drugs.