Carbapenems are a class of β-lactam antibiotics with a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. They have a structure that renders them highly resistant to most β-lactamases. Carbapenem antibiotics were originally developed from thienamycin, a naturally derived product of Streptomyces cattleya. Carbapenems are one of the antibiotics of last resort for many bacterial infections, such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Recently, alarm has been raised over the spread of drug resistance to carbapenem antibiotics among these coliforms, due to production of the New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase, NDM-1. There are currently no new antibiotics in development to combat bacteria resistant to carbapenems, and worldwide spread of the resistance gene is considered a potential nightmare scenario. Wikipedia [ - ]

Carbapenems are a class of β-lactam antibiotics with a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity... [ + ]