In this Article

• Quick facts about drug resistance
• Definitions
• Antimicrobial
• Antibiotic
• Antibacterial
• MRSA and VRE
• What is drug resistance?
• History of antimicrobial drug resistance
• Causes of antimicrobial drug resistance
• Diagnosis of antimicrobial drug resistance
• Treatment of antimicrobial drug resistance
• Prevention of antimicrobial drug resistance
• Antimicrobial resistance: A growing health issue
• Drug-resistant microbes of concern today
• Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)
• Microbes increasingly resistant to drugs
• Antibiotic Resistance Glossary
• Antibiotic Resistance Index

Drug-resistant microbes of concern today

Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria, increasingly seen not only in hospitals and healthcare settings (hospital acquired or HA-MRSA) but also in the wider community, especially among people in close contact such as athletes (community associated or CA-MRSA).

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) bacteria are resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic regarded as a drug of last resort.

Microbes increasingly resistant to drugs

• Food-borne bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter that can cause diarrhea and gastroenteritis
  
  
• Sexually transmitted bacteria that cause gonorrhea
  
  
• Penicillin-resistant Streptococci responsible for pneumonia
  
  
• Tuberculosis
  
  
• Influenza
  
  
• HIV
  
  
• Malaria

SOURCE: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health

References: National Research Council, Committee on Drug Use in Food Animals. The use of drugs in food animals: benefits and risks. Washington (DC): National Academy Press; 1999. Mellon M, Benbrook C, Benbrook KL. Hogging it: Estimates of antimicrobial abuse in livestock. Cambridge (MA): Union of Concerned Scientists; 2001.

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