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Diagnostic Microbiology from the Beginning to the Future: Regional Antibiograms as Public Health Tools to Slow Down Antibiotic Resistance

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Abstract

Infectious diseases is the only area of medicine where we can isolate the cause and study it in the laboratory under conditions similar to human body. Once isolated, we are able to determine the most optimal drug to treat it. Unfortunately, it is also the only specialty where after making truly wondrous strides we find ourselves at the crossroads of a public health crisis in the form of ongoing antibiotic resistance. Among the factors responsible for the current status, is the suboptimal utilization of the diagnostic microbiology laboratory. In this review authors provide a short historical perspective of diagnostic microbiology. The focus of discussion is the generation and utilization of cumulative antibiograms at the institutional and regional levels and discuss the pitfalls in large national databases with respect to the day-to-day patient care. This public health tool to slow down antibiotic resistance happens to be low-tech and inexpensive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Diseases, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois, USA

    Vidya Sundareshan

  2. Infectious Diseases, Solid Organ Transplant Program at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

    Nancy Khardori

Authors
  1. Vidya Sundareshan
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  2. Nancy Khardori
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Correspondence to Nancy Khardori.

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Sundareshan, V., Khardori, N. Diagnostic Microbiology from the Beginning to the Future: Regional Antibiograms as Public Health Tools to Slow Down Antibiotic Resistance. Indian J Pediatr 87, 48–50 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-019-03124-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-019-03124-x

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