Indications for Chloramphenicol Chloramphenicol has a wide spectrum of activity against Gram-positive and gram-negative cocci and bacilli (including anaerobes) Rickettsia, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, and Chlamydophila species Because of bone marrow toxicity, the availability of alternative antibiotics, and the emergence of resistance, chloramphenicol is no longer a drug of choice for any infection, except for Serious infections due to a few multidrug-resistant bacteria that remain susceptible to this antibiotic Plague meningitis or endophthalmitis because other plague drugs penetrate these spaces poorly However, when chloramphenicol has been used to treat meningitis caused by relatively penicillin-resistant pneumococci, outcomes have been discouraging, probably because chloramphenicol has poor bactericidal activity against these strains.