RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cephalosporins - now and tomorrow
JF Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin
JO Drug Ther Bull
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 85
OP 88
DO 10.1136/dtb.20.22.85
VO 20
IS 22
YR 1982
UL http://dtb.bmj.com/content/20/22/85.abstract
AB The pharmaceutical industry has striven for a long time to improve the cephalosporin antibiotics. Improvements have included increased potency, greater stability to bacterial β-lactamases, a broader spectrum against Gram-negative bacilli, reduced toxicity and improved pharmacokinetic properties. The injectable derivatives (with confusingly similar names) have been grouped into so-called ‘generations’. This review, prompted by the marketing of the ‘third generation’, attempts to define the roles of the cephalosporins (and the closely related cephamycins) already available or under trial.