A review on bacterial resistance to carbapenems: epidemiology, detection and treatment options.

Carbapenems are a class of antimicrobial agents reserved for infections caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. The emergence of carbapenem resistance has become a serious public health threat. This type of antimicrobial resistance is spreading at an alarming rate, resulting in major outbreaks and treatment failure of community-acquired and nosocomial infections caused by the clinically relevant carbapenem-producing or carbapenem-resistant . This review is focused on carbapenem resistance, including mechanisms of resistance, history and epidemiology, phenotypic and genotypic detection in the clinically relevant bacterial pathogens and the possible treatment options available.