Antimicrobial agents (antibiotics in particular) have helped countless numbers of people worldwide owing to their invaluable role in fighting microbial related infections/diseases; but the effectiveness of these agents and their usefulness for therapy is gradually being tested and deteriorated by the emergence and spread of drug-resistant forms of pathogenic microorganisms that has extended across the […]
Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem that bedevils our health sector and threatens our ability to effectively treat some infectious diseases. Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of microbes to grow in the presence of a chemical agent or drug that would normally kill it or limit its growth. Antibiotic resistance can spread to humans from
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ANTIBIOTIC (ANTIMICROBIAL) RESISTANCE Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Pharmaceutical Microbiology
An antibiotic has to go through a number of steps in order to exert its antibacterial action in vivo. They have to come into contact with the host taking them before ever their antibacterial and/or antimicrobial properties can be dissipated especially in the aspect of treating and abating a given disease condition or process. To
SPECIFIC MECHANISMS OF ACQUIRING RESISTANCE BY BACTERIA/MICROBIAL PATHOGENS Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Pharmaceutical Microbiology
Antibiotic resistant bacteria owe their drug insensitivity and ingenuity in developing resistance against our therapeutic regimens to resistance genes which they harbor or possess. These resistance genes can either be inherently (naturally) part of the organism’s physiology or it can as well be acquired from other resistant organisms in their environment. It is these resistance
MODE (MECHANISMS) OF TRANSFER OF RESISTANCE GENES Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Pharmaceutical Microbiology
The resistance of a microbial cell to the potent action of antimicrobial agents or antibiotics can either be innate or acquired. In innate (natural) resistance for example, the microorganisms are naturally resistant to a particular antibiotic. This usually occurs in microbes that lack target sites for the binding of the antibiotic. But in acquired resistance,
TYPES OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Pharmaceutical Microbiology
The production of beta-lactamase enzymes by Gram negative bacteria including E. coli, P. aeruginosa and Klebsiella species is an important mechanism by which the organisms evade both in vivo and in vitro antimicrobial onslaught. Beta-lactamase production by resistant test isolates can be evaluated for beta-lactamase production using the Nitrocefin test sticks (Oxoid, UK). The nitrocefin
NITROCEFIN TEST FOR BETA-LACTAMASE PRODUCTION Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Pharmaceutical Microbiology
Enterococcus (plural: Enterococci) is a group of bacteria that is normally found in the intestines of humans and many animals. Two species of Enterococci, which are found in the body of healthy individuals, are Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. Both E. faecalis and E. faecium are associated with human diseases; and they are mostly involved
Vancomycin resistance in Enterococci Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Pharmaceutical Microbiology
ESBLs (extended spectrum beta-lactamases) are enzymes that mediate resistance to extended-spectrum (third generation) cephalosporins (e.g., ceftazidime, cefotaxime, and ceftriaxone) and monobactams (e.g., aztreonam) but do not affect cephamycins (e.g., cefoxitin and cefotetan) or carbapenems (e.g., meropenem or imipenem). Why should hospital laboratories and hospitals be concerned about detecting ESBL-producing bacteria? The presence of an ESBL-producing
Purpose: To minimize the negative public health impact of the use of antimicrobial agents in food-producing animals whilst at the same time providing for their safe and effective use in veterinary medicine. General 1. National governments should adopt a proactive approach to reduce the need for antimicrobials in animals and their contribution to antimicrobial resistance
Antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon that occurs when bacteria are not killed or inhibited by usually achievable systemic concentration of an antibiotic (drug) with normal dosage schedule and/or fall in the minimum inhibitory concentration ranges of the drug in question. It occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE Read More »
Antibiotic Resistance / Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)