- “Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major public health issue in the WHO
European Region. According to the latest estimates, about 360,000 new TB cases
and 38,000 deaths were reported in the Region in 2013, mostly from Eastern and
central European countries.” - “Around 75,000 people in the Region are estimated to fall ill with MDR-TB
every year. Owing to limited access to diagnosis, only 35,000 (47%) of them
were diagnosed in 2013.” - “Only about half of people found with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) were
successfully treated in 2011.”
World Health Organization. (2015b). Global tuberculosis report, 2015. World Health
Organization.
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/191102/1/9789241565059_eng.pdf?ua=1
Wright, G. (2005). Bacterial resistance to antibiotics: Enzymatic degradation and
modification. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 57(10). pg. 1451-70.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15950313
- “A unique feature of enzymes that physically modify antibiotics is that these
mechanisms alone actively reduce the concentration of drugs in the local
environment; therefore, they present a unique challenge to researchers and
clinicians considering new approaches to anti-infective therapy...A thorough
understanding of resistance enzyme molecular mechanism, three-dimensional
structure, and evolution can be leveraged in combating resistance.” - “Given the fact that the antibiotic drug discovery pipeline is going dry, creative
leverage of the understanding of the details of enzyme-based resistance has a
significant impact on the treatment of infectious diseases.”
Wright, M., Peltier, G., Stepanauskas, R. and McArthur, J. (2006). Bacterial tolerances
to metals and antibiotics in metal-contaminated and reference streams. FEMS
Microbiology and Ecology. 58(2). pg. 293-302.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17064270
Wright, M., Baker-Austin, C., Lindell, A., et al. (2008). Influence of industrial
contamination on mobile genetic elements: Class 1 integron abundance and gene
cassette structure in aquatic bacterial communities. International Society for Microbial
Ecology Journal. 2(4). pg. 417-28. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18273063
Xi, C., et al. (2009). Prevalence of antibiotic resistance in drinking water treatment and
distribution systems. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 75(17). pg. 5714-8.
http://aem.asm.org/content/75/17/5714.full