AMCdrugs and medicineFCPSPharmacologyPLABUSMLE
A List of "Drug of Choice" in Various Infections.
Drug of choice is that drug which is known to be most effective in order to cure an infection or disease. A drug of choice should be accessible, cost-effective, easily tolerable, safe, and most importantly effective against the disease-causing pathogen.
Following is the list of few of drugs that are used in the common infections.
Pathogen | Disease | Drug of Choice |
Actinomyces | Actinomycosis | Penicillin G |
Bacillus anthracis | Anthrax | Ciprofloxacin, Tetracyclines |
Bordetella pertussis | Whooping cough | Erythromycin |
Borrelia burgdorferi | Lyme disease | Tetracycline |
Campylobacter | Acute inflammatory diarrhea | Ciprofloxacin |
Candida | Vaginal candidiasis Systemic candidiasis | Miconazole Fluconazole |
Chlamydia trachomatis | Pelvic inflammatory disease | Doxycycline |
Chlamydia pneumonia | Pneumonia | Tetracycline |
H. influenza | Pneumonia, Meningitis | 3rd Gen Cephalosporin |
H. pylori | Gastric ulcers | Metronidazole + Tetracycline |
Klebsiella | Pneumonia UTI | 3rd Gen Cephalosporin, Quinolones |
Legionella | Legionnaire's disease | Erythromycin |
M. Tuberculosis | Tuberculosis | Isoniazid + Rifampin + Pyrazinamide + Ethambutol |
M. leprae | Leprosy | Dapsone + Rifampin |
M. pneumonia | Atypical pneumonia | Erythromycin |
N. gonorrhoea | Gonorrhoea | Ceftriaxone |
N. meningitis | Meningitis | Penicillin G |
Nocardia | Pneumonia | Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole |
Proteus | UTI | Quinolones |
Rickettsia | Spotted fever, Typhus | Tetracycline |
Salmonella typhi | Typhoid fever | Ciprofloxacin / Trimethoprim+Sulfamethoxazole |
Shigella | Dysentery | Trimethoprim+Sulfamethoxazole |
Staph aureus | Skin infection, sepsis, osteomyelitis | Dicloxacillin, nafcillin or oxacillin |
Strep. Pyogenes | Pharyngitis, erysipelas | Penicillin G or V |
Strep viridans | Endocarditis | Penicillin + Aminoglycoside |
Treponema pallidum | Syphilis | Penicillin G |
Tropheryma whippelii | Whipple’s disease | Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole |
Trichomonas | Trichomoniasis | Metronidazole |
Vibrio cholera | Cholera | Tetracycline (+fluids) |
Yersinia pestis | Plague (Black Death) | Streptomycin |