Common microbial pathogens in surgical practice.

Despite ongoing major advances in antisepsis and in the development of potent antimicrobial agents since the early twentieth century, human beings remain subject to bacterial and fungal infection through mechanisms of virulence that continue to evade the latest advents in the microbiologic field today. Infection persists in surgical patients and only via the procurement of an in-depth knowledge of microorganism evolution and progression and an intricate understanding of human immune defense mechanisms are surgeons able to tackle infection in a fashion synonymous to that which allowed historic legends to transform the mere concept of surgery into reality. This article broadly describes current microbial pathogens and related issues in surgical disease.