Essential Oils and Nanoparticles: New Strategy to Prevent Microbial Biofilms

Abstract Microbial resistance to antibiotics has become a very important health issue in the past few decades, and is considered among the top eight global health problems until 2020. Among resistance problems, biofilm-related infections in medical settings are currently known for their higher rate of treatment failure because of microbial recalcitrance toward antibiotics. Moreover, it was demonstrated that a foreign body, i.e., medical device, drastically reduces the number of bacteria necessary for producing infections. This explains the extensively growing problem of implant-associated infections, with possible life-threatening consequences, device removal, or surgical excision of infected tissue, which make the management of patients and costs become critical issues.