Dr Timothy Barkham Dept of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore Avoid doctors.
Antibiotic resistance is increasing, the journals are full of it.
Analysis of the data shows that most of the resistance in Gram negative organisms is hospital based. Community acquired organisms remain largely susceptible. This is also true for most Gram positives although there are notable exceptions e.g. Streptococcus pneumoniae , with marked geographical differences in the data. Similarly, more patients are being treated in the community and so their flora is affected even though they have not been inpatients. Perhaps a more useful distinction would be 'antibiotic exposed or non-exposed'.