New Antibiotic TacklesResistant Infections

A new type of antibiotic looks promising in treating children with pneumonia that may be due to organisms resistant to other antibiotics.

"As antibiotic-resistant types of bacterial infections continue to increase, it is important to find alternative drugs," says Dr. Sheldon Kaplan, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "Linezolid appears to be quite effective in pediatric pneumonia."

Linezolid, the first new class of antibiotics in more than 30 years, differs from other agents in that it attacks bacteria before the bacterial growth cycle begins.

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved linezolid, marketed as Zyvok, for use by adults with pneumonia and skin infections.

According to Dr. Kaplan, antibiotic-resistant infections have now spread to the general population.

For example, methicilin-resistant staphylococcus aureus is a bacterial strain that has been found primarily in health care settings. Its usual method of transmission has been from caregivers or medical equipment, but that is changing, he says. "MRSA used to be associated with hospitals, but now, most of these infections in children seen at our hospital come from the community," Dr. Kaplan says. "This is going to be one of the next major infectious disease issues around the country."

One of the reasons some organisms are becoming resistant to treatment is the overuse of antibiotics, says Dr. Kaplan, who also serves as chief of the infectious disease service at Texas Children's Hospital.

"Day care attendance is clearly a risk factor," he adds.

Dr. Kaplan says linezolid is as equally effective when administered orally as when it is given intravenously. Ultimately, patients would begin receiving the drug in the hospital by IV, then would be sent home on oral medication.

"This is not a drug that is going to be important for routine infections in the office. This will be primarily for serious infections that require hospitalization," he says.

- LORI WILLIAMS

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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