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Review
. 2013 Jun;13(3):263-8.
doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.13-3-263.

Frontline antibiotic therapy

Alasdair MacGowan  1 , Maha Albur
Affiliations
Review

Frontline antibiotic therapy

Alasdair MacGowan et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2013 Jun.

Abstract

The need to use front-line antibiotics wisely has never been greater. Antibiotic resistance and multi-drug resistant infection, driven by antibiotic use, remain major public health and professional concerns. To overcome these infection problems, use of older antibiotics active against multi drug-resistant pathogens is increasing - for example, colistin, fosfomycin, pivmecillinam, pristinamycin, temocillin and oral tetracyclines. The number of new antibacterials reaching clinical practice has reduced significantly in the last 20 years, most being focused on therapy of Gram-positive infection - eg linezolid, daptomycin, telavancin and ceftaroline. Recent guidance on antibiotic stewardship in NHS trusts in England is likely to provide a backdrop to antibiotic use in hospitals in the next 5 years.

Keywords: Antibiotic therapy; antibiotic resistance; stewardship.

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