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  • Letters to the Editor
  • Published:

Act now on antibiotic resistance

Nature Medicine volume 4, page 985 (1998)Cite this article

To the editor—In your May issue, The Brockham Group discussed the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. The group concluded that research towards a better understanding of the problem is necessary before specific recommendations on prescribing habits can be given1. We are concerned that this course will delay much-needed initiatives to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing.

The role of antibiotic resistance is not absolute in determining clinical outcome, which is based on multifactorial elements. Resistance is only relative (or microbiological) in many instances. Often, disease caused by such variant organisms will respond to antibiotics but perhaps only with high-dose therapy. Resistance obviously related to treatment failure and/or poor patient outcome can usually be understood in scientific terms and vice versa. There is no mystery about the response of bacteria (sensitive or resistant) to antibiotics, despite the complexity of the in vivo situation.

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References

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  2. White, A.C. et al. Effects of requiring prior authorisation for selected antimicrobials; expenditure, susceptibilities and clinical outcomes. Clin. Infect. Dis. 25 230–239 ( 1997).

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  3. Select Committee on Science and Technology. Resistance to antibiotics. House of Lords: Session 1997–1998, 7th Report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. On behalf of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Antibiotic Policy Study Group.,

    Ian M. Gould & Jos W. M. van der Meer

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  1. Ian M. Gould
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  2. Jos W. M. van der Meer
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Gould, I., van der Meer, J. Act now on antibiotic resistance. Nat Med 4, 985 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/1955

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1955

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