Open AccessLack of new antiinfective agents: Passing into the pre-antibiotic age?
Author(s) -
Klaus Brandenburg,
Tobias Schürholz
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
world journal of biological chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1949-8454
DOI - 10.4331/wjbc.v6.i3.71
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care medicine , sepsis , antibiotics , septic shock , developed country , health care , antibiotic resistance , immunology , environmental health , economic growth , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , population , economics
The lack of newly developed antibiotics, together with the increase in multi-resistance of relevant pathogenic bacteria in the last decades, represents an alarming signal for human health care worldwide. The number of severely infected persons increases not only in developing but also in highly industrialized countries. This relates in first line to the most severe form of a bacterial infection, sepsis and the septic shock syndrome, with high mortality on critical care units. No particular anti-sepsis drug is available, and the therapy with conventional antibiotics more and more fails to provide a survival benefit. Due to the fact that the pharmaceutical industry has withdrawn to a high degree from the development of anti-infectious agents, a huge challenge for health care is approaching in the 21(st) century. In this article, these problems are outlined and possible alternatives are presented which may be helpful to solve the problem.