Clinical impact and relevance of antibiotic resistance

Increasing antimicrobial resistance and multiple resistance have resulted in increasing difficulties in the treatment of bacterial infections. Resistance leads to inappropriate empirical therapy, delay in starting effective treatment, and the use of less effective, more toxic, and more expensive drugs. Although studies are not always consistent, antimicrobial resistance in the infecting organisms is associated with treatment failure, prolonged or additional hospitalization, increased costs of care, and increased mortality. Additional costs and lost bed days are incurred by the need to control the spread of antimicrobial-resistant organisms within hospitals. All this has significant direct impact on patients and their families and also secondary effects on the cost effectiveness of healthcare delivery. There is an urgent need to control antimicrobial resistance by improved antibiotic usage and reduction of hospital cross-infection. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.