The big 6

The causes and repercussions for increasing drug resistance are multifaceted in a globalized world and need to be addressed at many levels, but crucially they need to be tackled there where it matters most – at the bedside of infected patients. Looking at the imminent health-threats – i.e. the spread of hyperepidemic and – hypervirulent and extensive drug resistant bacterial species – the focus lies on the following species:

  1. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
  2. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
  3. Other multi-drug resistant gut bacteria (e.g., VRE, Serratia marcescens, Clostridium difficile)
  4. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb)
  5. Extensive drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (XDR-PA)
  6. Extensively and multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB)
  7. Streptococcus pneumoniae
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