ABSTRACT
With the rapid emergence of both vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin (oxacillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) beginning in the late 1980s, new agents with antibacterial activity against these pathogens were avidly sought (1). The first agents developed in the 1990s to address this medical need were the streptogramin combination quinupristin-dalfopristin, known commercially as Synercid (2,3) and the oxazolidinone linezolid known as Zyvox (4). Of these two agents, linezolid has a broader set of therapeutic indications and is used more extensively.
