Okeke Iruka N
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Afr J Lab Med. 2016 Oct 31;5(3):497. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v5i3.497. eCollection 2016.
As crucial as clinical laboratories are to preventing, identifying and managing resistance problems, laboratory scientists are among the most overlooked stakeholders. This review outlines the contributions that diagnostic laboratory systems should make toward all five of the World Health Organization's 2015 strategic objectives for antimicrobial resistance containment.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and surveillance are central to antibacterial resistance management and control and need to be implemented more commonly and closer to sick patients. However, the scope of tests that promote judicious antimicrobial use extend beyond susceptibility testing. Laboratory tests for pathogens or their associated biomarkers confirm or rule out specific causes of signs and symptoms associated with infection. Laboratory systems also provide critical support to infection control programmes. All of these functions promote rational antimicrobial use and contain the spread of resistance. Routine laboratory data supports the development of vaccines and other technologies that could ease the pressure placed by antimicrobials. Laboratories are also a rich source of information for health professionals, policymakers and the general public about the urgency of the resistance problem and progress in containing it.
Laboratory systems are integral to antimicrobial resistance containment and contributions from African laboratories to addressing resistance need to be enhanced.
尽管临床实验室对于预防、识别和管理耐药性问题至关重要，但实验室科学家却是最容易被忽视的利益相关者之一。本综述概述了诊断实验室系统应为世界卫生组织2015年抗菌药物耐药性遏制的所有五项战略目标做出的贡献。
抗菌药物敏感性测试和监测是抗菌药物耐药性管理和控制的核心，需要更广泛地实施并更贴近患病患者。然而，促进合理使用抗菌药物的测试范围超出了敏感性测试。针对病原体或其相关生物标志物的实验室检测可确认或排除与感染相关的体征和症状的特定病因。实验室系统还为感染控制计划提供关键支持。所有这些功能都有助于促进抗菌药物的合理使用并遏制耐药性的传播。常规实验室数据支持疫苗和其他技术的开发，这些技术可以减轻抗菌药物带来的压力。实验室也是卫生专业人员、政策制定者和公众了解耐药性问题的紧迫性以及遏制耐药性进展情况的丰富信息来源。
实验室系统是抗菌药物耐药性遏制不可或缺的一部分，非洲实验室在应对耐药性方面的贡献需要得到加强。
