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Speciality Spotlight
Antibiotics
– MRSA
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Kathryn Senior
FDA approves first drug in new class of antibiotics
The Lancet 2000; 29 April, 355: 1523.
One of the problems of drug resistant bacterial infections is MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) which has become a most dangerous infection. This bacteria has now become Vancomycin-resistant.
A new class of antibiotic has now been approved. The antibiotic named Zyvox (Linezolid) has novel mode of action, it blocks bacterial protein production by disrupting the binding of bacterial ribosome. It is hoped that this will make the treatment of MRSA infection simpler.
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Mathew N Lowe and Harriet M Lamb (Auckland,New Zealand)
Meropenem – An Updated Review of its Use in the Management of Intra-Abdominal Infections.
Drugs Sept.2000; 60(3): 619-646
Meropenem is a carbapenem antibacterial agent with a broad spectrum of activity which encompasses Gram-negative, Gram-positive and anaerobic bacteria. Like other carbapenems, meropenem is stable against chromosomal and extended-spectrum b-lactamases.
In patients with moderate to severe intra-abdominal infections, empirical monotherapy with meropenem achieved clinical response rates ranging from 91 to 100% in 7 randomized comparative trials.
