Levofloxacin treatment for plague, approved by FDA

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57424217-10391704/antibiotic-for-plague-approved-by-the-fda/

April 30, 2012 1:21 PM
Antibiotic for plague approved by the FDA

(CBS/AP) A plague outbreak could be extremely deadly, so much so that officials warn it can be used in a bioterror attack. Now U.S regulators have approved use of a powerful Johnson & Johnson antibiotic to treat and prevent the extremely rare but potentially deadly bacterial infection.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also approved Levaquin, known generically as levofloxacin, to reduce risk of people getting plague after exposure to the bacteria that causes it, called Yersinia pestis.

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: Levofloxacin treatment for plague, approved by FDA

The problem with levofloxacin is the rapid grow of resistant strain of several bacterial species such as Streptococcus Pneumoniae (see N Engl J Med., http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa012122 ), Staphylococcus Aureus (Ophtalmology, http://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/ophtha/article/S0161-6420(01)00724-2/abstract ), Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (International J Antimicrob Agents, http://www.ijaaonline.com/article/S0924-8579(11)00347-5/abstract ), E. Coli (Journal Watch, http://infectious-diseases.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1022/3 ), among the others.

Levofloxacin is an antibacterial drug belonging to the class of the fluoroquinolones (see Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinolone ), active against the bacterial DNA girase.

Its use against the Yersinia Pestis infections should be guarded with caution with a strong surveillance for emergence of resistant strains.

(IOH)