Ocular bacterial infections: current and future treatment options.

In this article, common ocular bacterial infections are reviewed, examining bacterial pathogens, antibiotics and antibacterial resistant trends in light of current and future treatment options. Ophthalmologists are fortunate to be able to choose between an array of old and new antibiotics in order to treat bacterial ocular infections. Ophthalmic infections are primarily treated with topical antibiotics applied directly to the eye. Since there are no in vitro susceptibility standards for interpreting ocular bacterial susceptibility, systemic standards are used. There is no immediate need for new ophthalmic antibiotics, but increasing resistance is being seen with the widely used fluoroquinolone antibiotics.