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Drugs Five Years Later: Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole in the United States
Abstract
After approximately 5 years of clinical use in Great Britain and other European countries, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in fixed-dose combination was introduced into the United States in 1973. As a result of sequential blockade in the biosynthesis of tetrahydrofolic acid, the antimicrobial activity of the combination exceeds that of either agent alone. Although the drug is approved for use in only chronic urinary-tract infection, otitis media, shigellosis, and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, many experimental clinical trials suggest that this agent may be useful in a number of other infectious disorders. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is generally well tolerated even with long-term administration, but its potential for hematologic toxicity and nephrotoxicity must be monitored.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York; New York; Section of Infectious Diseases, Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital; Bronx; and Division of Infectious Diseases, Mount Sinai Hospital; New York, New York.
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▸Requests for reprint should be addressed to Gary P. Wormser, M.D., Infectious Disease Section, Veterans Administration Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468.
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- Received December 28, 1978.
- Accepted July 6, 1979.
- © 1979 American College of Physicians
