Institute Colloquium: The evolution of drug resistance and the curious orthodoxy of a
Date
Monday, February 27, 2012 16:30 - 17:30
Speaker
Andrew Read (Pennsylvania State University)
Location
Raiffeisen Lecture Hall, Central Building
Series
Colloquium
Tags
Institute Colloquium
Contact
Resistance against antimicrobial drugs is one of the major challenges to 21st century medicine. There are two ways to fight resistance evolution. First, discover and deploy new drugs. Second, use drugs wisely, for example in combination therapy. Such wise-use strategies are among humanitys largest efforts to intentionally manage the evolution of any organism. A resistance management strategy widely advocated by professional bodies, medical schools and public health authorities is to ensure very high cure rates through full adherence to correct dosing regimens. I will propose that this resistance management strategy may be promoting the very evolution it is designed to retard. There is a need for evidence-based resistance management strategies, and I will discuss how these might be developed.