AUREOMYCIN IN OCULAR INFECTIONS

Abstract

In recent months, a mold belonging to the Streptomyces group has been isolated by workers¹at the Lederle Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company. The antibiotic derived from this mold has been named "aureomycin," and numerous tests against gram-positive as well as against gram-negative organisms have strongly suggested that it might have an unusual degree of potency and range of activity. On the basis of information regarding the fundamental investigations²which the Lederle Laboratories provided us, it seemed desirable to test aureomycin in patients suffering with external diseases of the eye. This new antibiotic has been used in 100 cases of ocular disease. For the most part, aureomycin was administered locally as a 0.5 per cent solution of a borate salt having a<i>p</i>_Hof 7.5 to 7.8 when dissolved in isotonic sodium chloride solution. The 0.5 per cent solution of the antibiotic was only mildly irritating to the