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Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 1999;282:2291.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

First, the good news. During last month's Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting in Philadelphia, researchers from the University of Iowa reported promising findings on a new drug capable of fighting disease-causing bacteria that have become resistant to existing antibiotics.

The drug, a synthetic agent called linezolid, has demonstrated universal effectiveness against strains of staphylococci, enterococci, and streptococci organisms despite their patterns of resistance to other antibiotics. "One of the most exciting potential uses for this new agent is the management of resistant gram-positive infections," said Michael Pfaller, MD, professor of pathology and public health.

The bad news, however, is that surveillance conducted through a global network of 72 medical centers has shown that genetically identical antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus have been detected thousands of miles apart, even across oceans. The most serious resistance problems were found in Central America, South America, and Asian-Pacific countries.

"It looks . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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