Mild to moderate plaque psoriasis can be treated with topical drugs and phototherapy. Patients with moderate to severe disease generally require systemic therapy. Guidelines for the treatment of psoriasis with topical therapy, phototherapy, and systemic drugs have recently been published.

The oral antimalarial tafenoquine succinate, a long-acting analog of primaquine, has been approved by the FDA in 2 different strengths. Arakoda (100-mg tablets; Sixty Degrees) is indicated for the prophylaxis of malaria in adults. Krintafel (150-mg tablets; GSK) is indicated for the prevention of relapse (radical cure) of Plasmodium vivax malaria in patients ≥16 years old undergoing treatment for acute P. vivax infection.

Tinidazole (Tindamax - Presutti Labs), an oral antiprotozoal drug similar to metronidazole (Flagyl, and others), has been approved by the FDA for treatment of trichomoniasis in adults and for treatment of giardiasis, intestinal amebiasis and amebic liver abcess in adults and children more than 3 years old. Tinidazole has been widely used outside of the US for decades under the trade name Fasigyn (Pfizer).

The FDA has approved a conjugated polysaccharide vaccine, Menactra (Sanofi-Pasteur), for protection against disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis in people 11-55 years old, and the manufacturer has applied for approval for use in children 2 to 10 years old. An unconjugated meningoccocal polysaccharide vaccine (Menomune - Sanofi-Pasteur) has been licensed in the US since 1981.

Phosphonoformic acid or foscarnet (Foscavir - Astra), a synthetic antiviral drug, has now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for intravenous (IV) treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in patients with AIDS. CMV retinitis occurs in up to 30% of patients with AIDS and often causes blindness (MD de Smet and RB Nussenbatt, JAMA, 266:3019, Dec 4, 1991).

Consensus recommendations for dosing and therapeutic monitoring of intravenous (IV) vancomycin (Vancocin, and others) were recently published. IV vancomycin has been used for decades as an alternative to penicillins for treatment of serious infections due to gram-positive cocci. In recent years, the widest use of the drug has been for treatment of serious methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.

Loracarbef (Lorabid - Lilly), a new beta-lactam antibiotic with antimicrobial activity similar to the second-generation cephalosporins, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of respiratory, skin, and urinary tract infection caused by susceptible organisms in both adults and children. It will probably compete with drugs such as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Septra, and others), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (Augmentin), cefaclor (Ceclor), cefuroxime axetil (Ceftin), and cefprozil (Cefzil - Medical Letter, 34:63,...

Rimantadine hydrochloride (Flumadine - Forest), the alpha-methyl derivative of amantadine (Symmetrel, and others), was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for prevention and treatment of influenza A virus infections in adults and for prevention of influenza in children.

The heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar - Wyeth) previously approved by the FDA for prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease in infants and children (Medical Letter 2000; 42:25) has now also been approved for prevention of otitis media. Infants and young children have higher antibody responses to the heptavalent conjugate vaccine (PCV7) than to the older 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) used in adults and older children (D Murray and C Jackson, Mil Med 2002; 167:671).

Butenafine hydrochloride 1% cream (Mentax - Penederm), a benzylamine antifungal drug similar to the allylamines terbinafine (Lamisil) and naftifine (Naftin), is now available in the USA for topical treatment of tinea pedis, tinea corporis and tinea cruris.