New intravenous antibiotics: a focused pharmacotherapy update.

Infections due to multidrug-resistant pathogens are increasing throughout the world, in particular due to the emergence of resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumonia, multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter spp, extended-spectrum β-lactamase(ESBL) producing enteric organisms, etc. These serious pathogens are a major cause of severe hospital and community-acquired infections and are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Several new parenteral antibiotics have been approved in the past several years to help treat these infections, including telavancin, doripenem, tigecycline and daptomycin. This article reviews the pharmacology and limitations of these new antibiotics in treating infections in adult critically ill patients. Despite these advances however, antibiotic research and development continues to be vital in treating infections caused by resistant organisms and addressing current and emerging clinical challenges.1-3 Disciplines Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences This article is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/pharmacy_facpub/30