Clinical application of treating biofilms-associated infections in family medicine.

The management of common infections in family medicine may be complicated by poor treatment response or infection recurrence. In many cases, difficulty in treating these infections can be explained by the important role of biofilms, complex microbial communities with unique survival properties that promote infection resistance, recurrence, and persistence. Biofilms have been demonstrated to play important roles in infections involving the sinuses, ears, and ischemic wounds. Biofilms also commonly grow on medical devices, such as indwelling catheters, where they serve as an important nidus of persistent infection. Understanding the role of biofilms in medical infections suggests preventive and treatment strategies that will directly target the important resistive mechanisms of biofilms.