New Drug May Treat Tough Skin Infections

A new antibiotic may treat skin infections as well as an older pill, a new study finds. The new drug, tedizolid, also did well against drug-resistant infections. It required fewer pills than the older drug as well. The new study included 667 adults. All had cellulitis or other wound infections. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group received tedizolid once a day for 6 days. The other got a standard antibiotic, linezolid, twice a day for 10 days. The two drugs worked equally well. Side effects were similar in both groups. New antibiotics are needed because so many types of bacteria now resist older ones. In this study, about one-quarter of the infections were caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These bacteria are difficult to kill. Linezolid is one of the few antibiotics that works.