Every year, lives are lost because of the spread of infections. Infections result from the body's inability to fight off foreign microorganisms or pathogens that may cause damage or disease if left untreated. The infecting organism or pathogen can be a bacteria, virus, fungus or some other parasite. The infecting organism or pathogen seeks to utilize the host's resources to multiply (usually at the expense of the host) or colonize. The infecting organism or pathogen interferes with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to chronic wounds, gangrene, loss of an infected limb, death, etc.
There are many common infections and some very rare ones, all with varying causes and treatments. Common bacterial infections include strep throat, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections and microbial infections such as E. coli or Staphylococcus aureus. Bacterial infections are generally treated with an antibiotic specifically chosen to destroy the infectious bacteria and delivered systemically, however, antibiotics are sometimes not effective. In addition, systemically delivered antibiotics may result in adverse side effects.
Common viral infections include a cold and influenza. Viral and bacterial infections differ in that viral infections are caused by viruses which are smaller than a bacterium or fungus. When a virus infects healthy cells, it prevents the cells from doing their job and causes sickness. Viruses usually infect a specific type of cell which causes viral infections to affect certain parts of the body. Viral infections in some cases can be treated with antiviral drugs to stop the virus from replication, however, antiviral drugs are not always effective at preventing or stopping replication of the virus. Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections. As such, viral infections must generally run a natural course and be fought off by the body. However, the body sometimes has trouble fighting off the virus and the virus could promote subsequent infection by a bacterium or fungus.
Common fungal infections include ringworm, Athlete's foot and vaginal yeast infections. Fungal infections are caused by a fungus that has either been transmitted through contact or has grown as a result of certain conditions of the body. Fungal infections are treated with anti-fungal medications that may be applied as a cream or taken orally, however, these medications are also sometimes not effective and can result in serious adverse effects.
Infections can occur in many ways including during or following surgery and the implications can be very serious. Antibiotics have been used prior to and after surgery to treat infections, however, as stated above, antibiotics are not always effective and if the pathogen is not bacterial, the antibiotic will not be effective. In addition, if an infection occurs during surgery, a systemically administered antibiotic may not be effective quickly enough and a physician may need to access the site of infection to try to treat the infection.
Anesthetics are generally a class of drugs or agents that produce a local or general loss of sensation, including pain, and therefore are useful in surgery and dentistry. Local anesthetics are drugs or agents that cause reversible local anesthesia and a loss of nociception. Local anesthetics act mainly by reversibly binding to and inactivating sodium channels thereby inhibiting sodium influx through sodium-specific ion channels in the neuronal cell membrane. Sodium influx through these channels is necessary for the depolarization of nerve cell membranes and subsequent propagation of impulses along the course of the nerve. When a nerve loses depolarization and capacity to propagate an impulse, the individual loses sensation in the area supplied by the nerve. Local anesthetics are typically known for infiltration, epidural block and spinal anesthesia. Local anesthetics are not known for treating or preventing infections.
One local anesthetic that is known to the medical profession is bupivacaine, which is widely recognized as a local anesthetic for infiltration, nerve block, epidural and intrathecal administration. In general, bupivacaine, also referred to as 1-butyl-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl) piperidine-2-carboxamide (C18H28N2O) may be represented by the following structure:

Bupivacaine has not been used nor known for treating or preventing infections. Rather, bupivacaine is often administered by epidural injection before total hip arthroplasty or injected to surgical wound sites to reduce pain after a surgery.
As the presently available treatments for several types of infections are sometimes not effective and cause undesirable side effects, there exists a need to prevent, treat or reduce infections using a medication that causes minimum or no side effects. New compositions comprising a local anesthetic are provided that effectively prevent, treat or reduce infections while causing minimum or no side effects.