Among other potential products to be presented and discussed at the workshop, CDC experts will discuss the need for decolonization tools and strategies, which can help stop or reduce the carriage of dangerous pathogens (germs), especially in healthcare settings.
- Pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Candida auris, can live and multiply (colonize) on patient skin or in their nose, gut, and lungs—sometimes without making them sick.
- These pathogens can infect the patient or spread silently to healthcare staff or the healthcare environment.
- Unless steps are taken to prevent spread, these threats can then move to other patients and cause outbreaks. If the pathogens are resistant to available antibiotics or antifungals, the outcomes can be deadly.
CDC-funded studies have shown that decolonization therapy may be an effective way to prevent spread of resistant germs in healthcare settings, but more research is needed to expedite discovery, testing, and development of effective products. With so few novel antibiotics and antifungals in development and the number of effective drugs dwindling, it is clear we cannot rely on drug treatment alone to control antimicrobial resistance.
Alternative therapeutics and agents that prevent the spread of pathogens, stopping infections before they can happen, may be an important new strategy for the nation’s success against antimicrobial resistance. Like antibiotics or antifungals, these solutions will have specific applications and will need to be stewarded well but—when applied for life-threatening resistant pathogens—should save lives and help preserve the antibiotics and antifungals that are still effective today.
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