BACKGROUND Fluoroquinolones are a class of antibacterial agents used for leprosy treatment. Some new fluoroquinolones have been attracting interest due to their remarkable potency that is reportedly better than that of ofloxacin, the fluoroquinolone currently recommended for treatment of leprosy. For example, DC-159a, a recently developed 8-methoxy fluoroquinolone, has been found to be highly p...

The main goal of this work is to clarify the predictive value of known genetic markers of Neisseria gonorrhoeae resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, and fluoroquinolones. The correlation between the presence of certain genetic markers and susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae isolates to penicillin, tetracycline, and fluoroquinolones has been analyzed by means of statistical methods. Susceptibili...

We developed a case-control study in order to identify risk factors associated with pharyngeal colonization by Streptococcus pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin MIC, > or =4 microg/ml). A total of 400 patients were studied for colonization by quinolone-nonsusceptible S. pneumoniae (QNSP) isolates and risk factors for this colonization. Isolate susceptibilit...

Infections of the respiratory tract remain one of the leading causes of death in the United States [1]. The cost burden for bacterial infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract is tremendous; the cost alone of treating patients with communityacquired pneumonia (CAP) has recently been estimated to be close to $10 billion (US) [2]. In addition, the emergence of drugresistant pathogens pr...

BACKGROUND Erythromycin has been the treatment of choice for Legionnaires disease (LD). However, treatment failure and experimental evidence of its bacteriostatic effect have led to evaluation of new drugs such as fluoroquinolones. This study compared the evolution of patients with LD treated with macrolides and fluoroquinolones. METHODS A prospective observational study was performed, and 13...

OBJECTIVES Fluoroquinolone-associated tendon ruptures are a recognised complication, but other severe collagen-associated adverse events may also be possible. Our objectives were to confirm the association of fluoroquinolones and tendon rupture, to clarify the potential association of fluoroquinolones and retinal detachment, and to test for a potentially lethal association between fluoroquinolo...

Sir, Fluoroquinolones are broad-spectrum antibacterial agents commonly used in clinical practice. When quinolones became widely used, bacterial resistance to them emerged rapidly and, over the past three decades, resistance has continued to increase. In Gram-negative bacteria, quinolone resistance is due primarily to mutations in chromosomal genes encoding quinolone targets DNA gyrase and topoi...

The treatment of respiratory infections is often empiric, necessitating the use of agents with a broad range of antimicrobial activity. The fluoroquinolones, having activity against common respiratory pathogens, fit this description. New fluoroquinolones have been developed in an attempt to improve the in vitro activity against a wide variety of respiratory tract pathogens. The objective of the...

BACKGROUND Moxifloxacin is a respiratory fluoroquinolone with a community acquired pneumonia indication. Unlike other fluoroquinolones used in our healthcare system, moxifloxacin's urinary excretion is low and thus we hypothesized that increased use of moxifloxacin is associated with an increase in fluoroquinolone resistance amongst gram negative uropathogens. METHODS All antibiograms for Gra...

OBJECTIVES Pseudomonas putida is an uncommon opportunistic pathogen, usually susceptible to antimicrobial agents. Data concerning resistance to antimicrobial agents in clinical P. putida isolates are limited. PATIENTS AND METHODS Susceptibilities to fluoroquinolones, carbapenems and other antibiotics were characterized in five clinical isolates of P. putida recovered from different patients w...