The Importance of Bactericidal Drugs: Future Directions in Infectious Disease
Clinical Infectious Diseases2004Vol. 39(9), pp. 1314–1320
Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2004 papers
Robert W. Finberg, Robert C. Moellering, Francis P. Tally, W. A. Craig, George A. Pankey, E. Patchen Dellinger, Michael A. West, Mayank Joshi, Peter K. Linden, Kenneth Rolston, John C. Rotschafer, Michael J. Rybak
Abstract
The bulk of the evidence supports the concept that, in treating endocarditis and meningitis, it is important to use antibacterial agents with in vitro bactericidal activity. This conclusion is based on both human and animal data. The data to support bactericidal drugs' superiority to bacteriostatic drugs do not exist for most other clinical situations, and animal models do not support this concept in some situations. Clinicians should be aware that drugs that are bacteriostatic for one organism may in fact be bactericidal for another organism or another strain of the same organism.