Recent Developments in Infectious Disease Chemotherapy: Review for Emergency Department Practitioners 2020

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We discuss and review new antimicrobials for treatment of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections with indications, contraindications, and side effects for each. We will also review new information and indications on older agents that are relevant to clinical practice. Many of them may be unfamiliar to Emergency Physicians given their newness and at times hospital restrictions on their use. We also review some new promising agents that are not yet in the clinical pipeline. RECENT FINDINGS: As new antibiotics become available for clinicians to use, new information becomes available with respect to the drugs’ indications, efficacy, pathogen resistance, drug-drug interactions, and side effects. SUMMARY: This article provides Emergency Department clinicians with a useful summary with new information on antibiotic use and recent research into agents which may become available.