Linezolid is a synthetic antibiotic used for the treatment of serious
infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria that are resistant to
several other antibiotics. A member of the oxazolidinone class of
drugs, linezolid is active against most Gram-positive bacteria that
cause disease, including streptococci, vancomycin-resistant
enterococci, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The main
indications of linezolid are infections of the skin and soft tissues
and pneumonia (particularly hospital-acquired pneumonia), although
off-label use for a variety of other infections is becoming popular.
Discovered in the late 1980s and first approved for use in 2000,
linezolid was the first commercially available oxazolidinone
antibiotic. As of 2009, it is the only marketed oxazolidinone, although
others are in development. As a protein synthesis inhibitor, it stops
the growth of bacteria by disrupting their production of proteins.
Resistance to linezolid has remained very low since it was first
detected in 1999, although it may be increasing. When administered for
short periods, linezolid is a relatively safe drug; it can be used in
patients of all ages and in people with liver disease or poor kidney
function.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linezolid>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
786:
Harun al-Rashid became the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother
al-Hadi.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid>
1752:
In adopting the Gregorian calendar under the terms of the Calendar (New
Style) Act 1750, the British Empire skipped eleven days (September 2
was followed directly by September 14).
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar>
1812:
The French invasion of Russia: Following the Battle of Borodino seven
days earlier, Napoleon and his Grande Armée captured Moscow, only to
find the city deserted and burning .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_of_Moscow_%281812%29>
1901:
Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States, the youngest
person at the time to do so at age 42, eight days after William
McKinley was fatally wounded at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo,
New York.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
1960:
At a conference held in Baghdad, the governments of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela founded OPEC to help unify and coordinate
their petroleum policies.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
grudging (adj):
Unwilling or with reluctance
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grudging>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its
deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other
countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism,
however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies,
while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It
wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, "the greatest," but greatness
is not required of a country; only goodness is.
--Sydney J. Harris
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_J._Harris>
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