Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:26:41.264Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Can we Tackle the Antibiotic Threat?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Jos W.M. Van Der Meer
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre, PO Box 9101, 6500HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands. E-mail: Jos.vanderMeer@radboudumc.nl European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), c/o Leopoldina, Halle Germany
Robin Fears
Affiliation:
European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), c/o Leopoldina, Halle Germany
Volker Ter Meulen
Affiliation:
European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), c/o Leopoldina, Halle Germany

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Erasmus Lecture 2014
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References and Notes

1.Carlet, J., Collignon, P., Goldmann, D., Goossens, H., Gyssens, I.C., Harbarth, S., Jarlier, V., Levy, S. B., N’Doye, B., Pittet, D., Richtmann, R., Seto, W. H., van der Meer, J. W. and Voss, A. (2011) Society's failure to protect a precious resource: antibiotics. Lancet, 378, pp. 369371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.For details about EASAC as an organisation, its mission and modus operandi, as well as its products, see www.EASAC.eu and our recent chapter in Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Europe, edited by J. Wilsdon and R. Doubleday (www.csap.cam.ac.uk/projects/future-directions-scientific-advice-europe).Google Scholar
3.Domagk, G. (1935) Ein Beitrag zur Chemotherapie der bacteriellen Infektionen. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, 61, pp. 250253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Lesch, J. E. (2007) The First Miracle Drugs: How the Sulfa Drugs Transformed Medicine, Chapter 3: Prontosil (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
5.Comroe, J. (1976) Retrospectroscope: missed opportunities. American Review of Respiratory Diseases, 114, pp. 11671174.Google ScholarPubMed
6.Fleming, A. (1929) On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae. British Journal of Experimental Pathology, 10, pp. 226236.Google Scholar
7.Selwyn, S. (1980) The Beta-Lactam Antibiotics: Penicillins and Cephalosporins in Perspective (London: Hodder & Stoughton).Google Scholar
8.Rubin, R. (2007) A brief history of great discoveries in pharmacology: in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the founding of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Pharmacological Reviews, 59, 289359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Chain, E., Florey, H. W., Gardner, A. D.et al. (1940) Penicillin as a chemotherapeutic agent. Lancet, 2, pp. 226228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.The term antibiotic in a strict sense is reserved for antimicrobial drugs derived form a natural source. Chemically synthesised antimicrobials were named chemotherapeutic drugs. In recent years this distinction has become less strict: many chemotherapeutic drugs, such as the quinolones are generally regarded as antibiotics.Google Scholar
11.Abraham, E. P. and Chain, E. (1940) An enzyme from bacteria capable to destroy penicillin. Nature, 146, pp. 837839.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.‘Gram-negative’ indicates that these microorganisms – because of their cell wall structure – appear pink under the microscope when stained with the method discovered by the Danish scientist Gram. Gram-negative bacteria have a thin cell wall and hence cannot survive well in a dry environment; they are bacteria that live in water and in our gut (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, Pseudomonas species are typical examples). Gram-positive bacteria (such as staphylococci and streptococci) have a thick cell wall and are able to survive in dry environment (like the human skin).Google Scholar
13.Levy, S. B. (1992) The Antibiotic Paradox. How Miracle Drugs are Destroying the Miracle (New York: Plenum Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Kunin, C. M. (1973) The use of antibiotics: a brief exposition of the problem and some tentative solutions. Annals of Internal Medicine, 79, pp. 555560.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Hulscher, M. E., Grol, R. P. and van der Meer, J. W. M. (2010) Antibiotic prescribing in hospitals: a social and behavioural scientific approach. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 10, pp. 167175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Dibner, J. J. and Richards, J. D. (2005) Antibiotic growth promoters in agriculture: history and mode of action. Poultry Science, 84, pp. 634643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Endtz, H. P., Ruijs, G. J., van Klingeren, B., Jansen, W. H., van der Reyden, T. and Mouton, R. P. (1991) Quinolone resistance in campylobacter isolated from man and poultry following the introduction of fluoroquinolones in veterinary medicine. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 27, pp. 199208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Vermeulen, E., Lagrou, K. and Verweij, P. E. (2013) Azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus: a growing public health concern. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, 26, 493500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Silver, L. L. (2011) Challenges of antibacterial discovery. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 24, pp. 71109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Kumarasamy, K. K., Toleman, M. A., Walsh, T. R.et al. (2010) Emergence of a new antibiotic resistance mechanism in India, Pakistan, and the UK: a molecular, biological, and epidemiological study. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 10, 597602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Gould, I. M. and Van der Meer, J. W. M. (Eds) (2005) Antibiotic Policies, Theory and Practice (New York: Kluwer/Plenum).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Van der Meer, J. W. M. and Gyssens, I. C. (2001) Quality of antimicrobial drug prescription in hospital. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 7(Suppl 6), pp. 1215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.EASAC Tackling antimicrobial resistance in Europe 2007. www.EASAC.euGoogle Scholar
24.EASAC European public health and innovation policy for infectious disease 2011. www.EASAC.euGoogle Scholar
25.Leopoldina. Antibiotics research: problems and prospects 2011. www.Leopoldina.orgGoogle Scholar
26.G8. Drug resistance in infectious agents – a global threat to humanity https://www.gov.uk/.../g8-science-ministers-statementGoogle Scholar
27.IAP IAMP. Antimicrobial resistance – a call for action. 2013. www.interacademies.net.Google Scholar
28.EASAC Antimicrobial drug discovery greater steps ahead. 2014. www.EASAC.eu.Google Scholar
29.Van der Meer, J. W. M., Fears, R., Davies, S. C. and Ter Meulen, V. (2014) Antimicrobial innovation: combining commitment, creativity and coherence. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 13, pp. 709710.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Recently, an exciting article has been published in which an ingenious method to detect antibiotics in non-culturable soil microorganisms and the subsequent discovery of a new antibiotic is described by an international group of authors, two of whom were present at the EASAC meeting.Google Scholar
31.The IMI project DRIVE‐AB commenced autumn 2014 and details on this and other IMI infectious disease projects are on http://www.imi.europa.eu/content/nd4bbGoogle Scholar
33.The recent EU citizens’ initiative to abolish animal experiments is worrisome. Also among politicians there is insufficient awareness of the crucial role of animal experimentation for development of drugs, including antibiotics.Google Scholar
34.EASAC. Antimicrobial drug discovery, 2015. www.EASAC.euGoogle Scholar
35.EASAC. New antimicrobial drugs: why we need them and how we can get them. www.EASACGoogle Scholar
39.G7 Academies’ Statement 2015. Infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Threats and necessary actions. www.Leopoldina.org.Google Scholar