Use of very old and very new antibiotics in intensive care units in Germany

Link: Use of very old and very new antibiotics in intensive care units in Germany -- Meyer et al., 10.1093/jac/dkm394 -- Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

The increasing problem of multidrug-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria causing severe infections has led to a re-evaluation of old drugs and the application of newly developed reserve antibiotics. Polymyxins and chloramphenicol were discovered in 1947. Both drugs were gradually withdrawn from clinical practice in Europe and the USA because of reports about toxicity. However, the emergence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii strains that are resistant to almost all available antibiotics has led to a revival of polymyxins given parenterally.