Site of Infection The location of the infected site may play a major role in the choice and dose of antimicrobial drug. Patients with suspected meningitis should receive drugs that can cross the blood-CSF barrier; in addition, because of the relative paucity of phagocytes and opsonins at the site of infection, the agents should be bactericidal. Chloramphenicol, an older drug but occasionally useful in the treatment of meningitis, is bactericidal for common organisms causing meningitis (., meningococci, pneumococci, and Haemophilus influenzae, but not enteric gram-negative bacilli), is highly lipid-soluble, and enters the CSF well. However, β-lactam drugs, the mainstay of.
