Outpatient parenteral antibacterial therapy (OPAT) is an increasingly popular means of containing the costs of antibacterial therapy, by avoiding the need for hospitalisation or allowing early discharge from hospital, in patients with serious infections. It also offers increased comfort and...

The treatment and prevention of tuberculosis have gained importance as the number of cases continues to increase worldwide and the ability of the disease to pass from one area to another becomes progressively greater. Interventions used in the US to help control the disease include the...

At least 95% of patients with duodenal ulcers and 80% of patients with gastric ulcers are infected with Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori is clearly recognised as the major culprit involved in the pathophysiology of peptic ulcer disease. Since eradication of this organism has prevented ulcer...

Adverse drug events occur frequently and lead to a significant number of fatalities each year. It has been estimated that fatalities directly attributable to adverse drug reactions are the fourth to sixth leading cause of death in US hospitals, exceeding deaths caused by pneumonia and diabetes....

Cefotaxime is a parenterally administered third generation cephalosporin with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. After more than a decade of use, cefotaxime continues to play an important role in the treatment of patients with serious infections, particularly those caused by...

In the absence of evidence in the literature on cost factors in the management of leprosy, a reference is made to the sporadic attempts to study costs of case detection and treatment. Such studies indicate that in the currently declining phase of leprosy endemicity, employing a conventionally...

Meropenem is a carbapenem antibiotic which is active against the majority of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria implicated in serious infections. Its therapeutic efficacy in a wide range of serious infections is similar to that of imipenem/cilastatin and standard combination drug regimens. Hence,...