Drug resistance occurs when an organism develops or acquires characteristics that allow it to survive exposure to a medicine that would normally inhibit or kill it.
Drug resistance can occur in microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, as well as in cancer cells. Resistant organisms may carry genetic changes that reduce a medicine’s effectiveness.
Resistance can make infections harder to treat and can contribute to treatment failure. In malaria, resistance to antimalarial medicines is an important public-health concern.
QUICK FACT
The organism becomes resistant, not the person. A person does not become biologically “resistant” to an antibiotic or antimalarial in the same way that a microorganism can become resistant to a drug.
COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH
Antimicrobial resistance: Antimicrobial resistance is the broader term covering resistance to medicines used against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Drug resistance can be used more broadly, including outside infectious diseases.
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