Abstract
The oxazolidinones are a new class of antibiotics whose mechanism of action is the inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the 50S ribosomal subunit. Linezolid is the first member of this class of antibiotics to be approved by the US FDA and other regulatory bodies for the treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, in adults and children.