Gram-positive bacterial resistance: future treatment options

Gram-positive infections are a major burden on patients and healthcare systems globally, and the need to treat these infections correctly in an empirical manner has become paramount. Further complicating this changing etiology is the emergence of resistant strains which are no longer predictably susceptible to standard first-line antimicrobials such as oxacillin or vancomycin. Thus, new agents such as linezolid have been developed to alleviate the 'guesswork' of initial empirical prescribing in infections where Gram-positive pathogens may be present. Future agents also being developed for multiresistant Gram-positive infections include evernimicin antibiotics, daptomycin, oritavancin, glycylcyclines and novel broad-spectrum cephalosporins; however, these are still in the development phase.