Multiple drug resistance

Multiple drug resistance (MDR), multidrug resistance or multiresistance is antimicrobial resistance shown by a species of microorganism to multiple antimicrobial drugs. The types most threatening to public health are MDR bacteria that resist multiple antibiotics; other types include MDR viruses, fungi, and parasites (resistant to multiple antifungal, antiviral, and antiparasitic drugs of a wide chemical variety). Recognizing different degrees of MDR, the terms extensively drug resistant (XDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) have been introduced. The definitions were published in 2011 in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection and are openly accessible.