Blending scientific and practical approaches, this second edition examines the social, economic, and medical issues related to the growing problem of bacterial resistance. It outlines the forces that contributed to the abuse of antibiotics and precipitated the current crisis. The core chapters describe the latest findings bacterial ecology, the biomechanics of resistance and susceptibility, and the latest avenues to develop new antibiotics that are themselves resistant to resistance mechanisms. Examining the success and limitations of complimentary approaches, such as combining a b-lactam antibiotic with a b-lactamase inhibitor, the book pulls together all of the information on resistance mechanisms in different groups of bacteria to help future efforts develop effective combinations.

Microbial Drug Resistance: A Historical Perspective. Ecology of Antibiotic Resistance Genes. Global Response Systems that Confer Resistance. Multidrug Efflux Pumps: Structure, Efflux, and Inhibition. Mechanisms of Aminoglycoside Antibiotic Resistance. Resistance to ß-Lactam Antibiotics Mediated by ß-Lactamases. Target Modification as a Mechanism of Antimicrobial Resistance. Antibiotic Permeability. Genetic Methods for Detecting Bacterial Resistance Genes. The Evolution and Epidemiology of Antibiotic Resistant Pneumococci. Antimicrobial Resistance in the Enterococcus. Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Mechanism of Drug Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Antibiotic Resistance in Enterobacteria. Resistance as a Worldwide Problem. Public Health Responses to Antimicrobial Resistance in Outpatient and Inpatient Settings. Antibacterial Drug Discovery in the 21st Century.