Drug Resistance in Antimicrobial Therapy

This book is published as one of a series of monographs called the "American Lectures in Living Chemistry," which is somewhat strange because the authors are British and chemistry is given scant attention. Lowbury and Ayliffe are physicians as well as clinical bacteriologists and have been prominent reporters of the scope of microbial resistance during the past couple decades.

The subject is introduced by chapters on mechanisms of resistance and clinical interpretation of susceptibility tests, followed by four chapters dealing with specific organisms, and concluded by their recommendations for control of the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Each chapter has pages of literature references whose usefulness is diminished by the annoying British custom of omitting the titles of articles. References are cited in the text by authors and dates rather than superscript numbers and this device interferes with the smooth flow of reading.

The discussion of mechanisms of drug resistance is