Antimicrobial therapy for cutaneous infections

Abstract

In its simplest terms, cutaneous infection represents the ability an organism to overcomesome or all the numerous factors that collectivelymake up what is referred to as host resistance. This viewpoint dominated the thinking dermatologists in the not-so-distant past. For example, in the 1954 (the year I began my training in dermatology) edition their textbook, Ormsby and Montgomery' define impetigo as a pus infection, the result the transmission to the skin an infection streptococci, staphylococci, or both. Ecthyma was, in their opinion, of the same nature as impetigo, but deeper situation. The recommended treatment for these infections was entirely topical-ammoniated mercury ointment, neomycin cream alone or in combination with bacitracin, and polymyxinor gentian violet solution were the treatments choice. For reasons that are still unclear, they stated that the systemic administration sulfathiazole or penicillin is no longer recommended,and this edict was generally followed at that time. In the decades that followed, we have witnessed an enormous advance in our understanding the pathogenesis cutaneous infections, and we now have available an array antibiotic agents that kill or inhibit the growth all classes organisms from viral to protozoan. Despite these advances, it is somewhat paradoxic that today's cutaneous infections often present more significant and difficult problems both diagnostically and therapeutically