Med. praxi. 2020;17(1):8-12

Increasing antibiotic resistance and rational use of antibiotics

Mgr. Eva Krejčí, Ph.D.

Antibiotické středisko, Oddělení bakteriologie a mykologie, Centrum klinických laboratoří, Zdravotní ústav se sídlem v Ostravě

Generally, the term of bacterial resistance refers to the ability of bacteria to survive a specified concentration of a given antibiotic. The current increase in antibiotic resistance is a serious problem, jeopardizing further use of antibiotics for treatment of infections. Resistance to reserve drugs used for serious cases caused by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (vancomycin, carbapenems) is on a steady increase, recently including also resistance to colistin, being the last antibiotic drug tested as effective against some strains of pseudomonas. Excessive administration of antibiotics leads to elevated incidence of resistant strains (so-called selection pressure of antibiotics occurs). Antibiotics therefore should be used responsibly. It is essential to collect valid clinical material for microbiological testing, which shall determine whether antibiotic treatment is appropriate as well as allow to use pathogen directed antibiotic treatment, preferably with narrow-spectrum antibiotics. The presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in clinical material does not necessarily mean that antibiotic therapy needs to be initiated - the patient may be colonised with multidrug-resistant strains but those may not be the cause of the ongoing infection.

Keywords: MRSA, VRE, ESBL, CPE, antibiotics, resistance, pathogen directed treatment.

Published: March 19, 2020  Show citation