Diagnosis and Treatment of Biofilm-Related Infections

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial biofilms have been recognized to contribute to the pathogenesis of the majority of clinical infections, particularly of chronic infections. Even if production of biofilm is often associated with adhesion to inert or biotic surfaces, such as implant devices, nowadays we know that bacteria are able to form free aggregates with characteristics similar to those of adhered biofilm. The biofilm matrix, as well as the low metabolic rate, protects bacteria from the activity of the host immune system and from antibiotics. As a consequence, biofilm-related infections are persistent ones, are rarely effectively counteracted by the immune system, and poorly respond to antimicrobial treatments, representing a hard challenge for clinicians and microbiologists. Moreover, treatment of these infections is often long and may include prolonged hospitalization, thus heavily affecting the quality of life of patients.

This Special Issue focuses on diagnosis and treatment of biofilm-related infections and will consist of 10–15 manuscripts, including original research articles, reviews and opinion papers.  Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. Novel markers of biofilm-related infections;
2. Innovative approach to diagnosis of biofilm-related infections;
3. Pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in biofilm-related infections;
4. Prevention of biofilm-related infections;
5. Management of biofilm-related infections;
6. Novel and/or alternative treatments for biofilm-related infections.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Elena De Vecchi
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics 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 2900 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.