Sensors – a Weapon in the Fight against Antimicrobial Resistance

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotics have revolutionized the treatment of infectious diseases, but their overuse and misuse have led to the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The AMR is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the “ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it”. AMR represents an emerging threat to public health worldwide, resistance to antibiotics being on the rise, with many bacteria species becoming resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics simultaneously. This poses a serious threat as treatment options for severe infections become more and more limited. In order to combat AMR, the WHO has endorsed a Global Action Plan recommending, among others, strict surveillance of antibiotic use and extensive research in the field in order to fully understand the AMR phenomena.

Antibiotics detection from biological, food, and environmental samples can allow the identification of the optimal antibacterial treatment, diminishing allergic reactions and impairing the spread of AMR. The early and rapid identification of bacteria in food, biological, microbiological, and environmental samples is very important in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of bacterial infections and in the fight against AMR. Due to their many advantages, sensors and biosensors play an important role in the detection of antibiotics and bacteria from various matrices.

This Special Issue will focus on the latest trends in the development of (bio)sensors for the detection of antibiotics and bacteria. We are interested in examples of (bio)sensors covering the following and related topics: novel optical, electrochemical, piezoelectric, magnetic, and acoustic sensors for antibiotics and bacteria detection; the identification and detection of new bacterial biomarkers; the development of sensors using novel recognition elements (molecularly imprinted polymers, aptamers, peptides, enzymes, nanozymes, etc.); new immobilization strategies of the bioelements and new sensor materials; “lab-on-a-chip” and artificial-intelligence-assisted sensors; whole bacteria and biomarker detection; real-sample analysis: food, biological, microbiological, and environmental samples.

Review and original research papers are welcome.

Dr. Cecilia Cristea
Dr. Bogdan Feier
Guest Editors

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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.