Newer antibiotics: their place in geriatric care. Part II

The pharmaceutical industry has addressed the problem of combating infections caused by gram-negative aerobic bacilli with the development of newer penicillins and a novel class of antibiotics known as the carbapenems. These compounds represent the culmination of years of research designed to overcome bacterial resistance mediated by inactivating enzymes, called beta-lactamases. These latter enzymes, contained within the gram-negative aerobic bacilli, have the capacity to hydrolyze select penicillins to inactive derivatives. We outline the therapeutic indications and limitations of these newer antibiotics.