What to do when antimicrobial treatment fails and when and how to define it? These are three very common questions arising when clinicians use antibiotics. Categorization of responders and non-responders early in the course of antibiotic treatment has a meaningful relationship to outcomes that is important to patients, hospitals and payers. Adequate and timely assessment of response to treatment and awareness of antibiotic failure may potentially increase the quality of treatment and improve outcomes. New molecular and rapid diagnostic tools may play a significant role in reducing the time for defining failure, for adjusting treatment and, consequently, for improving prognosis of serious infections.

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