GCC 3016/5016: Science and Society: Working Together to Avoid the Antibiotic Resistance Apocalypse

Antibiotics are powerful drugs that can prevent and treat infections, but they are becoming less effective as a result of drug resistance. Superbugs describes this growing global threat, the systematic failures that have led to it, and solutions that governments, industries, and public health specialists can adopt.

The societal consequences of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are severe. They include declining health outcomes from longer illnesses, prolonged stays in hospital, loss of protection for patients undergoing medical procedures, increased health care expenditure, and increased mortality. They also include declining global food security as AMR damages farm animal health and crop yields. Despite AMR being a transboundary crisis, concerted global initiatives that effectively combat AMR have been few and far between. Steering Against Superbugs analyses ways to reduce barriers and create opportunities for coordination. The expert contributions in this volume offer specific and original insights about what global governance of AMR means, and ways to help solve AMR issues. They show that effective governance relies crucially on pursuing local level implementation of key policies, and equitable recognition of solutions across multiple sectors within countries, and across the Global North and South. With the COVID-19 pandemic, societies across the world have been reminded of the devastating consequences of not being able to effectively counter global health threats. AMR is arguably one of the most severe long-term threats to human, animal, and environmental health. There is momentum for global political action around novel and emerging disease threats and Steering Against Superbugs contributes with original and insightful research to inform ongoing and future debates.

This book provides a detailed overview of the progress and challenges of non-traditional approaches for tackling antimicrobial resistance. The first chapter covers the factors that make microbes more likely to develop multidrug resistance. The book goes on to discuss the antimicrobial properties of propolis, essential oils and other microbial constituents that are used or under investigation to treat multidrug-resistant infections. Additionally, it covers alternative compounds that work as antimicrobial agents, their mechanisms of action, and how they might be utilized in conjunction with conventional drugs to circumvent drug resistance. The book explores the application of phage therapy and recent advancements in phage-based infection control with an emphasis on multidrug-resistant infections and discusses drug repurposing as a strategy to develop new antimicrobial agents efficiently and expeditiously. Additionally, it discusses the uses of nanoparticles in the treatment of infections brought on by multidrug-resistant pathogens and examines the use of different nanotechnology-based approaches to fudge microbial resistance mechanisms. It concludes by reviewing recent studies on microbial quorum-sensing systems and focuses on the significance of quorum-sensing systems in controlling microbial resistance mechanisms and at the same time highlights the importance and role of antimicrobial stewardship program to fight microbial infections. The book is an invaluable source of knowledge and information for academics, basic and clinical researchers, clinicians, and paramedic staff involved in one way or the other in the development and use of antimicrobial agents and strategies to combat multidrug resistance.

Antibiotic Resistance: Mechanisms and New Antimicrobial Approaches discusses up-to-date knowledge in mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and all recent advances in fighting microbial resistance such as the applications of nanotechnology, plant products, bacteriophages, marine products, algae, insect-derived products, and other alternative methods that can be applied to fight bacterial infections. Understanding fundamental mechanisms of antibiotic resistance is a key step in the discovery of effective methods to cope with resistance. This book also discusses methods used to fight antibiotic-resistant infection based on a deep understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of the resistance. Discusses methods used to fight antibiotic-resistant infection based on a deep understanding of mechanisms involved in the development of the resistance Provides information on modern methods used to fight antibiotic resistance Covers a wide range of alternative methods to fight bacterial resistance, offering the most complete information available Discusses both newly emerging trends and traditionally applied methods to fight antibiotic resistant infections in light of recent scientific developments Offers the most up-to-date information in fighting antibiotic resistance Includes involvement of contributors all across the world, presenting questions of interest to readers of both developed and developing countries

This book describes antibiotic resistance amongst pathogenic bacteria. It starts with an overview of the erosion of the efficacy of antibiotics by resistance and the decrease in the rate of replacement of redundant compounds. The origins of antibiotic resistance are then described. It is proposed that there is a large bacterial resistome which is a collection of all resistance genes and their precursors in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Ongoing resistance surveillance programs are also discussed, together with the perspective of a clinical microbiologist. The book then turns to specific themes such as the most serious area of resistance in pathogens, namely in Gram-negative organisms. The role of combinations of antibiotics in combating resistance emergence is discussed, particularly in the tuberculosis field, and then the importance of non-multiplying and persistent bacteria which are phenotypically resistant to antibiotics and prolong the duration of therapy of antibiotics which leads to poor compliance and resistance emergence. The role of anti-microbial compounds in textiles is covered, with its potential to exacerbate the spread of resistance. Then, efflux pumps are discussed. The final chapter describes the compounds which are in late stage clinical development, illustrating the paucity of the antibiotic pipeline, especially for Gram-negative bacteria.

Microbial Diversity in the Genomic Era presents insights on the techniques used for microbial taxonomy and phylogeny, along with their applications and respective pros and cons. Though many advanced techniques for the identification of any unknown bacterium are available in the genomics era, a far fewer number of the total microbial species have been discovered and identified to date. The assessment of microbial taxonomy and biosystematics techniques discovered and practiced in the current genomics era with suitable recommendations is the prime focus of this book. Discusses the techniques used for microbial taxonomy and phylogeny with their applications and respective pros and cons Reviews the evolving field of bacterial typing and the genomic technologies that enable comparative analysis of multiple genomes and the metagenomes of complex microbial environments Provides a uniform, standard methodology for species designation

This reference book provides updated information about the technological advancement in sustainable thermochemical bioprocessing of sewage sludge disposal and resource recovery. It discusses the innovative strategies of resource recovery for the formulation of feedstock, clean compost production, and safe application. The book traces the main chemical and biological properties of sewage sludge and covers biostabilization, detoxification, the role of microorganisms in sewage sludge management, and the sustainable use of sewage sludge from a circular economy perspective. Discusses organic waste disposal and recycling. Covers knowledge transfer from waste bioprocessing to commercially important end products. Includes industrial application of biological and thermochemical sewage sludge treatment toward emerging nutrient recovery technologies