Microbial Biofilms: Role in Human Infectious Diseases

Microbial biofilms: Role in Human Infectious Diseases focuses on new and emerging concepts in microbial biofilm research, such as the mechanisms of biofilm formation, biofilm-induced pathogenesis, biofilm detection/and diagnosis, gene exchange within biofilms, strategies to control microbial biofilms and the burden of biofilm associated infections. In addition, it highlights the various anti-biofilm strategies such as surface coating, signal quenching, novel compounds that can be translated to curb biofilm-associated infections and the escalation of antimicrobial resistance determinants.

Microbial biofilms can be a serious problem in medical settings as they are associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Infection related to biofilms increases recovery time and the cost of disease management. Biofilms are resistant to known antibiotics and human defense mechanism. In addition, due to close proximity of microbes within biofilms, increase genetic transformation has been detected results in increases frequency of antibiotic gene spread. With the advancement in science and technology, novel strategies have been proposed to combat the impact of biofilms on human health.