Editorial: Antimicrobial nanostructured polymeric materials and nanocomposites, volume II

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and infections caused by multidrug-resistant microbial pathogens represent one of the major clinical challenges responsible for high-level morbidity and mortality. They are a significant problem to the public health and the economic stability of societies all over the world. In November 2021 WHO has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats (Antimicrobial resistance (who.int)). According to CDC’s 2019 AMR Report, although declining since 2013, with 2.8 million new cases and more than 35,000 deaths each year, the number of people facing the AMR problem in United States is still too high (Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2019 (cdc.gov)). AMR also remains the major health concern of EU with more than 670,000 new cases of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains and more than 33,000 deaths per year (Antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Europe 2022 - 2020 data (europa.eu)). In 2019 China recorded 39-% drop of antibiotic use in hospitalised patients compare to 2011 (Antimicrobial resistance - China (who.int)). Still, with 73,000 estimated new cases only for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, the region remained at second position of the global highest incident rates (Antimicrobial resistance - China (who.int)). Each year a large number of people receive different kinds of implants, for example, hip or knee. However recent discoveries reveal that, either during the operative protocol or due to secondary infections, the implant’s surface could be colonized by bacteria, fungi, or both which can have serious consequences on a patient’s health. According to Annual Epidemiological Report of ECDC in 2016, post-surgical infections were identified as most common healthcare-associated infections (Surgical site infections - Annual Epidemiological Report 2016 [2014 data] (europa.eu)). In recent years it has been also recognized that microbial biofilms are ubiquitous, which has resulted in a number of studies from a biofilm perspective. Currently, great efforts are focused on the development of innovative therapeutic strategies regarding both novel drug candidates and drug delivery systems for treating microbial infections associated with implants. However, despite all these efforts as well as the urgent need, an effective and long-lasting solution to this problem is still not found. In the last decades, great attention is paid to nanostructured polymeric materials and nanocomposites because of their unique properties, which make them appropriate candidates for various applications in different medical and pharmaceutical fields. This Research Topic draws attention to the up-to-date findings regarding these issues and advanced therapeutic strategies and approaches as possible solutions