Clinical Application and Interpretatio of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing

摘要

Introduction As the 19th century drew to a close,the work of Joseph Lister ushered in the dawn of the antimicrobial era．Lister was among the first scientists to understand that microorganisms might be involved in human disease．Lister studied the inhibitory effect of various chemicals on the growth and viability of bacteria and directly applied this knowledge to medicine by using phenol to sterilize surgical instruments．Following this early example of infection control,the next step was to use such chemicals to attack microbes causing infection．As the use of antimicrobial agents over the 20th century progressed，their clinical successes were truly amazing and resulted in these agents being hailed as miracle drugs．During the second half of the 20th century．medicine enjoyed almost complete control over bacteriaI infection．