After decades of a dormant drug development pipeline for new antibiotics, infectious disease specialists are excited about a slew of new medications that are drawing closer to becoming commercially available.

Coverage of the infectious disease scientific conference IDWeek 2017 by Medscape included a story about 10 new antibiotics that have either been recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or that are showing promise in late-stage clinical trials. 

The story quoted David Andes, MD, professor and head, Infectious Disease. 

"I've been going to these meetings for more than two decades and I don't ever remember seeing this many new clinical trials with antibiotics being presented in one place," said Dr. Andes. 

In an unrelated article that appeared in Everyday Health, Dr. Andes was quoted in a story about recent research into a possible link between fungal microorganisms in the gut (the "mycobiome") and Crohn's disease.

Resources:

• "Ten New Antibiotics in the Pipeline for Resistant Infections," Medscape, October 19, 2017
• "Crohn's Disease Causes: Is Fungus a Factor?," Everyday Health, October 25, 2017