Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotic resistance has become a major concern worldwide. Bacteria with a broad range of resistance against antibiotics are spreading at an alarming rate. Hospitals, and in particular intensive care units, are proliferation zones for multi-drug-resistant bacteria. The first bacterial strains have emerged that are resistant against all available antibiotics. The steady trend of increasing resistance coupled with the lack of new antibiotic developments targeting resistant bacteria is forcing clinicians to apply more aggressive antibiotic dosing regimens, such as prolonged administration and combinations of different antibiotics. However, this increase in antibiotic utilization may not be the solution, and might instead add to the problem. While good antibiotic stewardship is one important pillar in limiting antibiotic resistance development, new non-antibiotic strategies have to be considered for the management of infections with multi-drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Colonization resistance provided by a balanced and diverse gut microbiota is a well-known mechanism to keep the spread of bacterial pathogens under control in the human body. The administration of pro- or synbiotics is a promising strategy to support this natural mechanism. Prophylactic administration of probiotic bacteria as well as administration in combination with antibiotics have to be considered. While there are first promising data showing the value of pro- and synbiotics in the management of infections with multi-drug-resistant infection, more research is needed to establish a better understanding of the potential role of probiotic microorganisms in this challenging task of healthcare.

Dr. Jacek Piatek
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• gut microbiota
• probiotics
• synbiotics
• gut colonization resistance
• multi-drug resistance
• pathogen inhibition
• nosocomial infections
• post-antibiotic era