Does molecular antibiotic resistance testing improve diagnostics and standard of care?

Remarkable shifts in antibiotic resistance have occurred in many important human pathogens over the last decade and a half. While some resistance types have declined in prevalence, others have accumulated sharply over the same timeframe. The implications for antibiotic therapy are significant and worrisome; infections due to multi-resistant strains are more difficult to treat and are not covered by standard empirical therapy, resulting in greater morbidity and mortality, and are often associated with higher treatment costs. Since mechanisms of antibiotic resistance are numerous, it is important to keep track of their changing landscape at local and global levels. What is more, it is necessary to track both resistant pathogens and resistance genes and to understand the relationship between them. This article summarizes the temporal and geographic trends in phenotypic and genotypic changes for important pathogenic bacteria over the last decade and a half.