Bacterial infection is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality (from infants to the elderly) and accounts for more than $20 billion in healthcare costs in the United States each year. The pathogens responsible for many of the common infectious diseases, such as urinary tract infection (UTI) and ventilator-associated infections (VAIs), have proven to be highly adept in acquiring mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance. The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics by healthcare providers and the infiltration of antibiotics in the environment have accelerated the selection and growth of resistant pathogens. To further exacerbate the problem, the need for new antibiotics has far outpaced the development of new classes of antibiotics by the pharmaceutical industry (only two new classes of antibiotics have reached the market in the last 20 years), in large part due to prohibitive cost and historically poor return on investment to develop new antibiotics. Consequently, clinicians have limited treatment options, particularly in the neediest patients. To tackle this major global health issue, we are developing novel technological approaches for rapid definitive clinical microbiological analysis. These technologies will improve the clinical management of bacterial infections and reduce the improper use of antibiotics in current practice, hopefully limiting the spread of drug-resistant organisms.

中文翻译：

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快速单细胞微生物分析：迈向感染和生态失调的精确管理。

细菌感染是发病率和死亡率（从婴儿到老年人）的主要原因，每年在美国造成超过 200 亿美元的医疗保健费用。许多常见传染病的病原体，如尿路感染 (UTI) 和呼吸机相关感染 (VAI)，已被证明非常擅长获得抗菌素耐药性机制。医疗保健提供者使用广谱抗生素以及抗生素在环境中的渗透加速了耐药病原体的选择和生长。为了进一步加剧这个问题，对新抗生素的需求远远超过了制药行业对新类别抗生素的开发（在过去的 20 年中，只有两种新类别的抗生素进入市场），很大程度上是由于开发新抗生素的成本过高和投资回报率一直很低。因此，临床医生的治疗选择有限，尤其是在最需要帮助的患者中。为了解决这一重大的全球健康问题，我们正在开发用于快速确定临床微生物分析的新技术方法。这些技术将改善细菌感染的临床管理并减少当前实践中抗生素的不当使用，有望限制耐药微生物的传播。我们正在开发用于快速确定性临床微生物分析的新技术方法。这些技术将改善细菌感染的临床管理并减少当前实践中抗生素的不当使用，有望限制耐药微生物的传播。我们正在开发用于快速确定性临床微生物分析的新技术方法。这些技术将改善细菌感染的临床管理并减少当前实践中抗生素的不当使用，有望限制耐药微生物的传播。