Loading...
Vancomycin always has been a problematic agent for treating patients with Staphylococcus infections because of its poor tissue penetration and slow bactericidal activity. In recent years, its use has been hampered further by emergence of both tolerant and resistant organisms.
In a retrospective review from a single U.S. medical center, 320 patients were treated with vancomycin for bacteremic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections between 2005 and 2010; vancomycin failed in 52%, according to standard clinical criteria. Independent predictors of failure included endocarditis, nosocomial infection, serum vancomycin trough levels <15 µg/mL, and a value <421 for the ratio between the area under the drug level curve and the …