Azithromycin - An antibiotic with potential use in the tropics
Taylor WRJ., Rigal J., Olliaro P.
Azithromycin is a new antibiotic with a broad spectrum of activity against several different types of antimicrobial pathogens. It has become established for the treatment of common bacterial infections in temperate countries but its role for treating or preventing classical tropical infections is evolving. Azithromycin had reasonable but insufficient prophylactic efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum and limited data currently exist on its use in combination with other antimalarial drugs for treating patients with P. Falciparum malaria. Azithromycin has been used with good results for treating bacillary dysentery, scrub typhus and typhoid fever. Given the global emergence of drug resistance to commonly used antimicrobial agents, more work needs to be done to further define potential use of azithromycin.