Impact of Strain Competition on Bacterial Resistance in Immunocompromised Populations

Abstract

Despite the risk of emerging drug resistance that occurs with the frequent use of antimicrobial agents, targeted and prophylactic antibiotics have been considered crucial to opportunistic infection management among the HIV/AIDS-immunocompromised. As we recently demonstrated, the disrupted selective pressures that occur in AIDS-prevalent host populations increase the probability of novel emergence. This effect is concerning, given that bacterial strains unresponsive to first-line antibiotics can be particularly dangerous to hosts whose immune response is insufficient to fight infection in the absence of antibiotic support. While greater host susceptibility within a highly immunocompromised population may offer a fitness advantage to drug-resistant bacterial strains, this advantage could be mitigated by increased morbidity and mortality among the AIDS-immunocompromised. Using a Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) epidemiological model parameterized to reflect conditions in an AIDS-prevalent host population, we examine the evolutionary relationship between drug-sensitive and -resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We explore this relationship when the fitness of the resistant strain is varied relative to that of the sensitive strain to investigate the likely long-term multi-strain dynamics of the AIDS-mediated increased emergence of drug resistance.

Effects of antibiotics ceftriaxone and levofloxacin on the growth of Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

“…Especially immunocompromised patients are often treated with antibiotics, partially prophylactically (Stern et al, 2014;DeNegre et al, 2020;Ji et al, 2018;Kollef & Betthauser, 2019). Determining the age of maggots in infested areas may provide information for how long a person has been neglected.…”

Antibiotics and Environment

“…The selective pressure applied by immune activation is lacking in immunocompromised hosts. This effect, coupled with the frequent antibiotic use of the immunocompromised patients, creates a novel evolutionary environment in which the selection for drug-resistant bacteria is drastically increased [5]. This is the case of infections due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in immunocompromised HIV/AIDS populations.…”

“…This is the case of infections due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in immunocompromised HIV/AIDS populations. The study by DeNegre et al [5] examined the evolutionary relationship between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis and has direct implications for the communities of researchers studying the evolution and epidemiology of infectious diseases, especially in the context of diseases that compromise immunocompetence.…”

Synthesis, Antibacterial and Anthelmintic Activity of Novel 3-(3-Pyridyl)-oxazolidinone-5-methyl Ester Derivatives

“…With bacterial resistance comes a grave threat to global public health security. Owing to the rapid growth of clinical drug-resistant bacteria, the number of effective anti-infective drugs has declined, and patient mortality is increasing [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. It is estimated that about 10 million people all over the world will die from drug-resistant bacterial infections, which will become the leading cause of human disease death, and lead to the loss of global GDP of US $100 trillion by 2050 [ 6 ].…”