Aerobic gram-negative bacilli, including the family of Enterobacteriaceae and non-lactose fermenting bacteria such as Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species, are major causes of hospital-acquired infections. The rate of antibiotic resistance among these pathogens has accelerated dramatically in recent years and has reached pandemic scale. It is no longer uncommon to encounter gram-negative infections that are untreatable using conventional antibiotics in hospitalized patients. In this review, we provide a summary of the major classes of gram-negative bacilli and their key mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance, discuss approaches to the treatment of these difficult infections, and outline methods to slow the further spread of resistance mechanisms.

In this third article of the three-part series, management of skin and soft tissue infections is reviewed with emphasis on new information on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Due to changes in the evolution of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones, previous distinctions between healthcare-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are currently much less clinically relevant. Many nosocomial cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection are now caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, with changing patterns of antibiotic susceptibility and resistance. Also reviewed are clinical scenarios where antibiotics may not be needed and suggestions for optimal use of antibiotic therapy for dermatologie conditions, including recommendations on perioperative antibiotic use.

Oral and topical antibiotics are commonly prescribed in dermatologie practice, often for noninfectious disorders, such as acne vulgaris and rosacea. Concerns related to antibiotic exposure from both medical and nonmedical sources require that clinicians consider in each case why and how antibiotics are being used and to make appropriate adjustments to limit antibiotic exposure whenever possible. This first article of a three-part series discusses prescribing patterns in dermatology, provides an overview of sources of antibiotic exposure, reviews the relative correlations between the magnitude of antibiotic consumption and emergence of antibiotic resistance patterns, evaluates the impact of alterations in antibiotic prescribing, and discusses the potential relevance and clinical sequelae of antibiotic use, with emphasis on how antibiotics are used in dermatology.