Treatment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Infections in Children: a Reappraisal of Vancomycin

AbstractPurpose of ReviewIn the last 50  years, vancomycin has been the agent of choice to treat infections due to methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, vancomycin treatment failure is not uncommon, even when MRSA strains are fully susceptible to vancomycin. Treatment with vancomycin requires careful monitoring of drug levels as there is a potential for nephrotoxicity. Resistance to clindamycin is not infrequent, which also limits therapeutic options for treating infections due to MRSA in children. This paper reviews the current data on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and clinical efficacy of vancomycin in children.Recent FindingsResistance to vancomycin in MRSA (MIC>2  mg/L) is infrequent; there is increasing evidence in the literature that vancomycin maybe ineffective against increasing proportion of isolates with MICs between 1 and 2 mg/L. Recent studies and meta-analyses have demonstrated that strains with high vancomycin MICs are associated with poor outcom es especially in patients with bacteremia and deep tissue infections due to MRSA. This gradual increase in vancomycin MIC has been reported as MIC creep or vancomycin heteroresistance. Patients infected with MRSA isolates that exhibit MIC creep experience poorer clinical outcomes, including delayed treatment response, increased mortality, increase rate of relapse, and extended hospitalization. There are limited data to guide vancomycin dosing in children with MRSA. Although the vancom...
Source: Current Infectious Disease Reports - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research