PRECISION THERAPY FOR MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIAL INFECTIONS

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections are becoming increasingly difficult to manage because the organisms involved can withstand several commonly used antimicrobial classes. This problem is not caused by a single mechanism; antibiotic exposure, selection pressure, horizontal transfer of resistance genes, healthcare transmission and gaps in infection prevention all contribute to it. Precision therapy aims to replace prolonged guesswork with a more individualized process: identify the pathogen quickly, determine its resistance profile, consider patient-specific factors and then select the narrowest effective treatment. Rapid molecular tests, whole-genome sequencing, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, pharmacogenomics and artificial intelligence can support this process. Alongside conventional antibiotics, emerging approaches such as bacteriophage therapy, CRISPR-based antimicrobials, antimicrobial peptides, monoclonal antibodies and targeted nanomedicine are being investigated for difficult-to-treat infections. The field is promising, but most of these technologies still require stronger clinical validation, reliable delivery systems, standardized workflows and affordable access. Therefore, precision therapy should be viewed not as a replacement for antimicrobial stewardship, but as a way of making stewardship more informed, faster and more patient-centred.