Current status of newer antiinfectives

In the era of multidrug resistance keen interest needs to be taken in developing newer antiinfective drugs and patents. We all are aware that not many such drugs are readily available and still less are in the pipeline, and thus, such patents are limited in number. This is an attempt to review some of the newer antiinfectives used as antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic agents. An attempt has been made here to review the lately added newer antiinfectives. However, there has not been much change in the antiparasitic drug development arena. But it is interesting to note that even much older antiparasitic formulations are still of much use and the reason for this is reviewed here. Among the antibacterial drugs ertapenem, gemifloxacin, tigecycline and daptamycin are discussed. Doripenem has not been included here, due to the paucity of randomized trials of the molecule; however, it appears to be a promising penem that is to get added to the list of available antibiotics. The antiparasitic and antifungal drugs have attracted major attention of the research scientists and clinicians because of the increasing incidence of parasitic and fungal infections in the immunocompromised patients, leading to added morbidity and mortality. In the present review, besides newer antibiotics, newer anti parasitic and antifungal drugs have also been discussed.