Abstract

The mutant prevention concentration as a strategy to minimize antimicrobial resistance- a timely concept but will it\'s acceptance be too late?

Author(s): Glen T Hansen and Joseph M Blondeau

Since the introduction of sulfonamide drugs and penicillin in the 1930s and 1940s, science and medicine has witnessed more than half a century of development and use of antimicrobial compounds which have clearly altered the course of medical history for both individuals and society and we continue to this day to define the antibiotic era. Unfortunately, we learned early about antimicrobial resistance as clinical isolates of penicillinase producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus rapidly appeared. Despite this early recognition of resistance and continual searches for natural or synthetic compounds with antimicrobial properties, past policies for dealing with resistance have at best been only partially effective and despite a greater understanding of the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance, we continue to face the same challenges encountered in the beginning of the antibiotic era.