Abstract

Minocycline (Minocin - Lederle) is a long-acting tetracycline. The main advantages claimed for minocycline by the manufacturer are that it is active against many strains of Staphylococcus aureus that are resistant to other tetracyclines, that it is more active than tetracycline against respiratory pathogens, and that it is useful in the treatment of the meningococcal carrier state. How important clinically is the greater antibacterial activity of minocycline compared with other tetracyclines? And how frequent and how serious are the vestibular effects of the drug?