TY - JOUR AU - Courvalin, Patrice T1 - Antimicrobial Drug Resistance: "Prediction Is Very Difficult, Especially about the Future" T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2005 VL - 11 IS - 10 SP - 1503 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Evolution of bacteria towards resistance to antimicrobial drugs, including multidrug resistance, is unavoidable because it represents a particular aspect of the general evolution of bacteria that is unstoppable. Therefore, the only means of dealing with this situation is to delay the emergence and subsequent dissemination of resistant bacteria or resistance genes. Resistance to antimicrobial drugs in bacteria can result from mutations in housekeeping structural or regulatory genes. Alternatively, resistance can result from the horizontal acquisition of foreign genetic information. The 2 phenomena are not mutually exclusive and can be associated in the emergence and more efficient spread of resistance. This review discusses the predictable future of the relationship between antimicrobial drugs and bacteria. KW - antimicrobial drugs KW - antibiotics KW - resistance KW - evolution DO - 10.3201/eid1110.051014 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/10/05-1014_article ER - End of Reference