Antimicrobial Disinfectants and Resistance Mechanisms in Surgical and Environmental Settings
This community investigates the efficacy of chemical disinfectants and antiseptics against pathogenic bacteria, with a specific focus on preventing surgical site infections and understanding how exposure to these agents drives the development of antibiotic resistance.
The research centers on the antimicrobial activity of povidone-iodine, chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, and quaternary ammonium compounds against major pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A substantial portion of the work examines the mechanisms of resistance, including efflux pumps and resistance genes, often through randomized controlled trials and systematic meta-analyses. The community also addresses the clinical application of these agents in wound healing and cataract surgery, while simultaneously tracking the environmental spread of resistance genes in wastewater and biosolids. This dual focus connects clinical infection control with the broader ecological dynamics of antimicrobial resistance.
The community is most heavily represented in iodine research, accounting for 4.9% of all tracked iodine papers, and also appears in chlorine and bromine research. It comprises 12,816 papers, primarily published in Frontiers in Microbiology, Journal of Hospital Infection, and Antibiotics. Recent work continues to examine the interplay between disinfectant exposure and resistance gene survival in wastewater treatment systems, alongside updated clinical trials comparing chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine for surgical infection prevention.