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Antibiotic resistance has a language problem

Nature volume 545, pages 23–25 (2017)Cite this article

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A failure to use words clearly undermines the global response to antimicrobials' waning usefulness. Standardize terminology, urge Marc Mendelson and colleagues.

Clinicians have long known that microbes such as bacteria, viruses and fungi are becoming alarmingly resistant to the medicines used to treat them. But a global response to this complex health threat — commonly termed 'antimicrobial resistance' — requires engagement from a much broader array of players, from governments, regulators and the public, to experts in health, food, the environment, economics, trade and industry.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. professor of infectious diseases and head of the Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, South Africa

    Marc Mendelson

  2. director of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland

    Manica Balasegaram

  3. head of the Drug-Resistant Infections Program at the Wellcome Trust, London, UK

    Tim Jinks

  4. professor of infectious diseases at Nancy University Hospital and leads a research team on stewardship at the University of Lorraine (EA 4360 APEMAC), Nancy, France

    Céline Pulcini

  5. professor of paediatric infectious diseases at the Institute of Infection and Immunity, St Georges Hospital, University of London, UK

    Mike Sharland

Authors
  1. Marc Mendelson
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  2. Manica Balasegaram
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  3. Tim Jinks
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  4. Céline Pulcini
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  5. Mike Sharland
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc Mendelson.

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Competing interests

C.P. is a member of DRIVE-AB, which is supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking (grant agreement No. 115618 - Driving re-investment in R&D and responsible antibiotic use — DRIVE-AB — www.drive-ab.eu). Resources are composed of financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) in-kind contribution.

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Antibiotic resistance: The last resort 2013-Jul-24

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Mendelson, M., Balasegaram, M., Jinks, T. et al. Antibiotic resistance has a language problem. Nature 545, 23–25 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/545023a

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