What role has antimicrobial drug resistance played in the emergence of infectious diseases?
Antimicrobial resistance as a factor in the emergence of infectious disease warrants considerable emphasis. Antibiotics that once seemed invincible are losing their effectiveness for a wide range of community acquired infections. Pneumococcal infections are a leading cause of otitis media, pneumonia and meningitis in children. There has been an alarming increase in pneumococcal antibiotic resistance thought to be partly due to prescribing antibiotics without proper indications, prescribing the wrong drug or wrong dose or having poor patient compliance with treatment regimens. What is the most common emerging infectious disease in North America? Acquired immunodeficiency disease (AIDS) is now thought to have infected over 500,000 people in North America. World -wide there are thought to be approximately 1.5 million children affected by HIV. Approximately 75% of these are preventable. Effective treatment and prevention programs administered to pregnant women can decrease the transmission
