Trends and Considerations in Global Infectious Disease Drug Dev | Page 4

Uniqueness of Antimicrobial Trials »

Figure 3. Environmental

Causes of Disease Spread 3, 4

Treatments for clinical infections involve the interplay of three
elements: a pathogen that is susceptible or resistant to treatments, the host’s immune response to limit the damage and/
or eliminate the pathogen, and an antimicrobial drug. In other
therapeutic areas, only two elements are in play: the disease
process and the specific treatment. Unlike most other diseases,
bacteria and other microbes may develop resistance to certain
drugs, such that agents that have been successful in the past may be ineffective in the future. Detection of pathogen resistance often comes hours or
days after the identification of the pathogen, and thus ineffective therapy may be initially directed toward the infection because of the assumption
that the specific pathogen is susceptible.
Another di