Defending the Last Line: Combatting Carbapenem-Resistant Pathogens

Carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative organisms currently constitute a severe public health problem. Among them, the most critical threat is posed by carbapenemase-resistant Enterobacteriacae (CRE), Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA). Infections by these microorganisms, increasingly occurring worldwide, are associated with adverse patient outcomes and cause a significant burden on healthcare systems.

These pathogens have the ability to spread rapidly among patients, due to their ability to survive and propagate in the hospital environment and resistances are further spread due to the mobile genetic elements carrying the responsible genetic loci. Carbapenemase-producing organisms are by definition resistant to multiple antibiotic classes, resulting in limited therapeutic options and difficult-to-treat infections, with high morbidity and mortality rates. In addition, prompt detection of these organisms is paramount for implementation of appropriate infection control measures and early management.

This Research Topic will focus on the above pathogens (CRE, CRAB, CRPA), the resistance mechanisms and the antimicrobial therapies used to treat their related infections. The sub-topics considered for this collection are:

• New or changing patterns in the epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant pathogens

• Molecular determinants and mechanisms of dissemination of carbapenemases

• Characterization of resistance mechanisms

• Diagnostics and detection methods

• Antimicrobial susceptibility assays

• Antimicrobial therapies

• New antimicrobial agents

• Management, therapeutics and strategies for the prevention and control of carbapenem-resistant pathogens

We invite contributors to submit the following article types: Hypothesis & Theory, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Perspective, Review.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: metallo-beta-lactamases (MBL), KPC, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), efflux pumps, porin alteration, Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs), Siderophores and Conjugates, Cefiderocol, Ceftazidime-Avibactam, Aztreonam

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.