What is a key focus when dealing with prevention of resistance in treatment strategies?

Ensuring adherence to prescribed therapy is a key focus when dealing with the prevention of resistance in treatment strategies because consistent and correct use of medication helps maintain therapeutic efficacy. When patients adhere to their prescribed treatments, the medication can effectively reduce the severity of the illness and lower the risk of the pathogen developing resistance. Inadequate adherence can lead to suboptimal drug levels, which may not effectively eliminate the infection and instead contribute to the development of resistant strains. This is especially critical in treatments involving antibiotics or antivirals, where incomplete courses can allow for surviving pathogens that may adapt to resist the drugs being used. Monitoring patient symptoms and implementing alternatives are also important, but they can be secondary to the initial goal of ensuring patients take their medications as prescribed to prevent resistance from developing.