https://stm2.bookpi.org/BIAPHCP <p>Severe bacterial and fungal infections increasingly require clinicians to interpret microbiological findings within a wider biological and therapeutic context. This monograph brings together contemporary evidence on host-pathogen interactions, conventional and molecular diagnosis, antimicrobial resistance, biomarkers, prognostic assessment, ageing, and antimicrobial stewardship, while also integrating a coherent programme of previously published studies on severe infection.</p> <p>The synthesis intentionally distinguishes three levels of evidence: established findings from the broader literature, observations from the published research programme incorporated into the volume, and conceptual integration. The Precision-Infection Model developed in the later chapters is therefore presented as a structured cognitive framework organised around five linked domains - Pathogen, Host, Response, Resistance, and Time - rather than as a validated prediction score or treatment algorithm.</p> <p>The aim is to support clinically contextualised reasoning: selecting tests that can reduce decision-relevant uncertainty, interpreting positive and negative results according to host vulnerability and timing, and aligning antimicrobial breadth with the probability of resistance and the trajectory of response. Throughout, observational associations are interpreted cautiously, and clinical recommendations are anchored to contemporary peer-reviewed evidence and professional guidance.</p> en-US Bacterial and Fungal Infections in the Era of Antimicrobial Resistance: Precision Diagnostics, Host Response, and Clinical Prognosis https://stm2.bookpi.org/BIAPHCP/article/view/2040 <p>This monograph examines severe bacterial and fungal infections through an integrative precision-infection framework that links pathogen characteristics, host factors, systemic response, antimicrobial resistance, and time. It reviews the biological determinants of severe infection, the evolution from conventional microbiology to rapid molecular and emerging diagnostic technologies, and the clinical implications of antimicrobial resistance. Particular attention is given to biomarkers, severity assessment, older adults, antimicrobial stewardship, and the interpretation of bacterial and fungal coinfection and superinfection. The volume also integrates findings generated within the original research programme underpinning the monograph, including studies of multiplex polymerase chain reaction, bacterial superinfection, multidrug-resistant pathogens, fungal infection, and age-related prognostic patterns. These findings are synthesised into the Precision-Infection Model, proposed as a conceptual framework for structuring clinical reasoning rather than as a validated prediction score. The central argument is that microbiological information has greatest clinical value when interpreted together with host vulnerability, inflammatory response, resistance mechanisms, and the timing of diagnosis and treatment. This approach supports a transition from pathogen identification alone towards clinically contextualised diagnosis and targeted antimicrobial decision-making.</p> Bogdan Iulia-Georgiana Roșca Ovidiu Cialma Monica Bratosin Felix Copyright (c) 2026 Author(s). The licensee is the publisher (BP International). 2026-10-22 2026-10-22 1 89 10.9734/bpi/mono/978-81-17350-59-1