Abstract
Heteroresistance: A cause of unexplained antibiotic treatment failure?
Highlights
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2 million infections every year in the United States are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths and US$55 billion in increased healthcare costs and lost productivity [1]
We recently identified a clinical isolate of the nosocomial pathogen Enterobacter cloacae that exhibited HR to the last-line polymyxin antibiotic colistin [13]
These findings clearly demonstrate the profound effect that HR can have on antibiotic treatment outcomes
Summary
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2 million infections every year in the United States are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths and US$55 billion in increased healthcare costs and lost productivity [1]. It should be noted that the term “heteroresistance” has been used to describe mixed populations of bacteria with stable genetic differences, including closely related bacteria that developed mutations [8] or coinfections with two unrelated strains [9]. These are distinct occurrences that are not the focus of this review
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