Favourable reports of trovafloxacin's antibacterial activity were highlighted by several studies at the 36th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) [New Orleans, US; September 1996]. Of particular interest, promising results were seen with the agent in a study involving children with meningitis. Other developments to make the news were the use of berberine to treat diarrhoea in immunocompromised patients, and the discovery of a bacterial protein that could act as an immunogen to protect against infection of surgically implanted plastic devices.