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The Use and Abuse of Antibiotics and the Development of Antibiotic Resistance

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Hot Topics in Infection and Immunity in Children VI

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 659))

Abstract

The growing problem of antibiotic resistance has made the formerly routine therapy of many infectious diseases challenging, and, in rare cases, impossible. The widespread nature of the problem has led some experts to speculate about a “post-antibiotic era.” Furthermore, though antibiotic resistance occurs in nature and is an inevitable consequence of even the most prudent antibiotic use, it is clear that our overuse and misuse of antibiotics is responsible for most of the recent increases in antibiotic resistance (McGowan, 1983; Austin et al., 1999; Arnold and Straus, 2005). Judicious and rational antibiotic use has the potential to limit the emergence of clinically important antibiotic resistance and may be able to reduce the impact of resistance that has already developed, effectively prolonging the shelf life of today’s (and tomorrow’s) antibiotics (Dowell et al., 1988). Nonetheless, the threat posed by antibiotic-resistant pathogens has been a wakeup call for modern medicine – developing new antibiotics is important but strategies to prevent infectious diseases (by immunization or other public health measures) will always be preferable when feasible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    B. Keith English

  2. Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    Aditya H. Gaur

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  1. B. Keith English
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  2. Aditya H. Gaur
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Correspondence to B. Keith English .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Child Life and Health, University of Bristol, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol, BS2 8AE, United Kingdom

    Adam Finn

  2. Royal Children's Hosp., University of Melbourne, Parkville , 3052, Australia

    Nigel Curtis

  3. University of Oxford, Level 4,John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, United Kingdom

    Andrew J. Pollard

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English, B.K., Gaur, A.H. (2010). The Use and Abuse of Antibiotics and the Development of Antibiotic Resistance. In: Finn, A., Curtis, N., Pollard, A. (eds) Hot Topics in Infection and Immunity in Children VI. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 659. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0981-7_6

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