PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Antibiot.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frabi.2025.1680329
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations and Impacts of Antimicrobial Stewardship in Primary Care and Proximity SettingsView all articles
Antibiotic stewardship: what for?
Provisionally accepted
- Fundación Lusara para la Investigación Científica AC, Mexico City, Mexico
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Abstract Antibiotic stewardship programs and controlled antibiotic usage have long been considered fundamental strategies in healthcare systems, and these approaches were traditionally viewed as the primary defense against bacterial resistance development. But recent studies reveal a surprising disconnect between antibiotic usage and resistance patterns, with socioeconomic factors showing stronger correlations than clinical drug use. Multiple factors beyond antibiotic consumption now influence resistance patterns, including agricultural antibiotic use, increasing urbanization, and the evolution of mobile genetic elements. Therefore, while antibiotic stewardship remains crucial for preventing side effects and reducing healthcare costs, its role in controlling bacterial resistance requires fundamental reassessment. This understanding necessitates a strategic shift in stewardship programs to focus on more attainable goals, such as patient safety and cost reduction, while developing new, comprehensive approaches to address antibiotic resistance that account for the complex interplay of biological, environmental, and socioeconomic factors.
Keywords: antibiotic stewardship, antibiotic resistance, Antibiotic usage, Socioeconomic Factors, horizontal gene transfer
Received: 05 Aug 2025; Accepted: 09 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Amábile-Cuevas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Carlos F Amábile-Cuevas, carlos.amabile@lusara.org
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