Raltegravir: the first HIV-1 integrase strand transfer inhibitor in the HIV armamentarium.

Raltegravir is the first integrase strand transfer inhibitor approved for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. As the first agent in this new class of antiretroviral therapies, raltegravir has demonstrated safety and efficacy in treatment-naive as well as heavily pretreated HIV-infected patients failing therapy with multidrug-resistant virus. Raltegravir has a favorable drug interaction profile that permits both administration to a wide, demographically diverse patient population and coadministration with many other therapeutic agents, including antiretroviral agents and supportive medications, without restrictions or dose adjustment.

Advances in antifungal chemotherapy.

The American Society for Microbiology sponsored the 38th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), a premier annual scientific conference, in San Diego, California, September 24-27, 1998. At the ICAAC several sessions were held which focused on the pathogenesis of fungal disease, the in vitro susceptibility testing of new azole (voriconazole, Syn-2869, SCH-56592, carbendazim), echinocandin-like (FK-463, LY-303366, MK-0991), polyene (patricins) and established antifungal agents (fluconazole, itraconazole, amphotericin B, nystatin, terbinafine), the experimental in vivo activity of these new antifungal drugs in various animal models of fungal disease, and the clinical activity of fluconazole, itraconazole and liposomal amphotericin B formulations.

Medical mycology and current trends in antifungal chemotherapy.

The Medical Mycological Society of the Americas (MMSA) and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) are both premier scientific organizations which held their annual conferences in Atlanta, Georgia, May 17-21, 1998. The MMSA scientific session focused on the role of animal models in drug development and on the immunology and molecular biology of the medically important fungi. The use of current molecular tools in identifying new fungal targets for the development of antifungal agents and for the study of fungal epidemiology was reviewed.

Human mycoses and current antifungal therapy.

The Focus on Fungal Infections meeting has become a popular conference for specialists in medical mycology and antifungal chemotherapy. Highlights of the 8th meeting are reported, with a focus on infection and therapy. Although the incidence of mycoses has increased, the identification of these fungal etiologic agents remains difficult.

Progress in antibacterial and antifungal chemotherapy.

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases sponsored the 10th European Congress on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Stockholm, Sweden, May 28-31, 2000. At the ECMID, well-attended sessions were held which focused on the pathogenesis and therapy of viral, bacterial and fungal diseases. This report focuses on new information on resistance to antibacterial agents, including data from recent surveillance studies, and the in vitro and investigational clinical activity of new antibacterial (moxifloxacin, telithromycin) and antifungal (fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, amphotericin B, liposomal formulations of amphotericin B, terbinafine and the candins) drugs.