Antimicrobial Chemotherapy – Are we Really at the End of Antibiotic Era?

Overview

Antimicrobial chemotherapy undergoes a global crisis. The nineties brought the unprecedented spread of resistanceof main pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, with an extent and intensity varying from negligible to threatening,depending largely on the local or regional or nationwide approach to prescribing antibiotics. In some reqions themicrobial multiresistance led to various bacterial infections becoming untreatable, however, substantial increase ofcosts of antibacterial chemotherapy - somewhere even prohibitive - has been felt everywhere, depending on thenecessity of using reserve drugs instead of basic ones. In he mid of nineties, the advent of a post-antibiotic era seemedalmost inevitable. Concentrated efforts aimed at rationalizing the antibiotic usage, at decreasing the uselessprescribing, at creating antibiotic policies as well as the development of new at the antibacterials have diminishedthe danger, at least for some time. Brief descriptions of new drugs (linezolide, quinupristine/dalfoprostine, newchinolones and naphythyridones and telithromycine) are given and some other, in the near future possibly usefulantibacterials (daptomycine, glycycyclines, oral carbapenems and trinems) are mentioned as well as some new waysof antibacterial research. In a long-term view, however, rationalization of antibiotic prescribing is the only andirreplaceable mean of maintaining the efficacy of antibacterial chemotherapy at acceptable costs.

Key words:
antibiotics, antimicrobial chemotherapy, microbial multiresistance, pathogenic bacteria.