AUTHOR=Dominey-Howes Dale , Bajorek Beata , Michael Carolyn A., Betteridge Brittany , Iredell Jonathan , Labbate Maurizio TITLE=Applying the emergency risk management process to tackle the crisis of antibiotic resistance JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=6 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00927 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2015.00927 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

We advocate that antibiotic resistance be reframed as a disaster risk management problem. Antibiotic-resistant infections represent a risk to life as significant as other commonly occurring natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes). Despite efforts by global health authorities, antibiotic resistance continues to escalate. Therefore, new approaches and expertise are needed to manage the issue. In this perspective we: (1) make a call for the emergency management community to recognize the antibiotic resistance risk and join in addressing this problem; (2) suggest using the risk management process to help tackle antibiotic resistance; (3) show why this approach has value and why it is different to existing approaches; and (4) identify public perception of antibiotic resistance as an important issue that warrants exploration.