Unravelling Antimicrobial Resistance in Our Environment

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2024) | Viewed by 4525

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Interests: public health; environmental microbiology; parasitology; microbial risk assessment; antimicrobial resistance; risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The world is witnessing a proliferating challenge in the form of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which extends its impact far beyond the realms of healthcare. This Special Issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, entitled "Unravelling Antimicrobial Resistance in Our Environment", aims to shed light on the critical issue of AMR in our environment.

As a global health concern, AMR has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its potential to significantly increase morbidity and mortality rates. The research landscape surrounding AMR spans various disciplines, and this Special Issue aims to spotlight the significance of monitoring AMR in the environment.

With an increasing body of evidence, it has become clear that the environment plays a crucial role in the development and spread of drug-resistant pathogens. The transmission of antimicrobial resistance through water, soil, and wildlife ecosystems is an emerging area of concern, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of the environmental factors at play.

Across diverse sectors and industries, a growing awareness of the environmental dimension of AMR is driving various interventions. These include efforts to enhance surveillance, better understand the sources and transmission routes of resistance, and develop strategies to mitigate the environmental impact of AMR.

In alignment with the Global Action Plan's strategic objectives, this Special Issue will emphasize the importance of monitoring and addressing AMR in the environment, recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. By adopting a One Health approach, we aim to strengthen the surveillance of AMR in environmental reservoirs, explore innovative infection prevention and control measures, and evaluate the impact of vaccination strategies in environmental contexts.

Furthermore, the Special Issue will explore the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship principles in environmental settings and seek to enhance legislative and policy reforms to better protect our ecosystems. This Special Issue recognizes that addressing AMR in the environment is essential for comprehensive AMR management on a global scale.

We invite researchers, scientists, and experts from various fields to contribute their insights and findings to this Special Issue. By disseminating the latest research on the "Unravelling Antimicrobial Resistance in Our Environment", we aim to enhance our understanding of the environmental dimensions of AMR, identify critical gaps, and ultimately contribute to more effective strategies for mitigating the global burden of antimicrobial resistance.

We would like to welcome you to read this Special Issue.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Life.

Dr. Isaac Dennis Amoah
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • antimicrobial resistance
  • environmental monitoring
  • One Health
  • surveillance
  • AMR transmission
  • ecosystem health

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

20 pages, 1360 KiB  
Review
Antibiotic Prescribing in Dental Medicine—Best Practices for Successful Implementation
by Oana Săndulescu, Liliana Lucia Preoțescu, Adrian Streinu-Cercel, Gülşen Özkaya Şahin and Mihai Săndulescu
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9020031 - 26 Jan 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4044
Abstract
With rising rates of antimicrobial resistance throughout the world, it is time to revisit antibiotic prescribing policies and practices, and dentistry is an important area for focused intervention, as it accounts for up to 15% of all antimicrobial prescriptions. In this narrative review, [...] Read more.
With rising rates of antimicrobial resistance throughout the world, it is time to revisit antibiotic prescribing policies and practices, and dentistry is an important area for focused intervention, as it accounts for up to 15% of all antimicrobial prescriptions. In this narrative review, we have analyzed the current state of the knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding antimicrobial use among dental professionals, and we have identified a set of seven recurring themes that drive inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in dental medicine. These include: 1. Prescribing antibiotics to delay or avoid dental treatment. 2. Overlooking the 5Ds—dental treatment (source control), dental condition (indication), drug (antibiotic choice), dose, and duration. 3. Relying on education from the distant past and on previous experience. 4. The heterogeneity of (too many) guideline recommendations leads to confusion and over-prescribing. 5. Decreased access to guideline information in private practice. 6. Psychological factors such as pressure to prescribe, comfort prescribing and the weekend effect, and 7. Feeling removed from antimicrobial resistance and externalizing responsibility. Based on the existing knowledge, we propose a framework based on four key pillars for focused intervention: 1. Education. 2. Internalizing responsibility. 3. Recognizing recurring counter-productive practices, and 4. Addressing recurring counter-productive practices. This framework can be applied in different dental settings to ensure best practices for the successful implementation of rational antimicrobial prescribing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unravelling Antimicrobial Resistance in Our Environment)
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