Microbial Primer: Challenges and opportunities in the treatment of chronic polymicrobial infections ‒ an eco-evolutionary perspective.

Jennifer M Farrell, Sam P Brown

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in Microbiology (Reading, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Comparative study of targeted next-generation sequencing and traditional pathogen detection methods in lower respiratory tract infections: impact on patient outcomes.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Jennifer M FarrellCenter for Microbial Dynamics and Infection, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Sam P BrownCenter for Microbial Dynamics and Infection, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this primer, we will review the key distinctions between acute and chronic infections, between mono- and polymicrobial infections and how these distinctions work together to generate the growing crisis of chronic polymicrobial infections. Chronic (non-resolving) infections place a large and growing burden on human health, globally. Following an introduction to the basic properties of chronic polymicrobial infections, we will use an ecological and evolutionary perspective to help outline a research agenda for this field, flagging both challenges and opportunities for improved infection prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Indexed as

Bacterial InfectionsCoinfectionPersistent InfectionAnimalsAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacteriaBiological EvolutionChronic DiseaseHumansAnti-Bacterial Agentschronic infectioncommunity dynamicsdiagnosticseco-evolutionary dynamicspolymicrobialtreatment

Identifiers

PMID40540316

DOI10.1099/mic.0.001567

PMCPMC12181621

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.