Roozbeh Yalfani,1,*
1. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University,Varamin-Pishva branch, Tehran, Iran
Introduction: The ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) are the leading cause of nosocomial infections throughout the world. Most of them are multidrug resistant isolates, which is one of the greatest challenges in clinical practice.
Methods: Multidrug resistance is amongst the top three threats to global public health and is usually caused by excessive drug usage or prescription, inappropriate use of antimicrobials, and substandard pharmaceuticals. Persistent use of antibiotics has provoked the emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) bacteria, which render even the most effective drugs ineffective. Extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase producing Gram negative bacteria have emerged as an important therapeutic challenge.
Results: Development of novel therapeutics to treat drug resistant infections, especially those caused by ESKAPE pathogens is the need of the hour. Alternative therapies such as use of antibiotics in combination or with adjuvants, bacteriophages, antimicrobial peptides, nanoparticles, and photodynamic light therapy are widely reported.
Conclusion: Many reviews published till date describe these therapies with respect to the various agents used, their dosage details and mechanism of action against MDR pathogens but very few have focused specifically on ESKAPE.