Daptomycin for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections complicated by septic pulmonary emboli.

The management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is limited by high rates of methicillin resistance and the paucity of antibiotic agents with proven efficacy in complicated infectious syndromes, such as endocarditis. Vancomycin is the mainstay of therapy; however, salvage therapy is frequently required due to persistence of infection or drug toxicity. Daptomycin is FDA-approved for S.

A multicentre stewardship initiative to decrease excessive duration of antibiotic therapy for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia.

Background: The increased emphasis on pneumonia-related performance measures and patient outcomes has led hospitals to implement multifaceted approaches to quickly identify patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), start timely therapy and reduce readmission. However, there has been minimal focus on duration of therapy (DOT) and patients often receive prolonged antibiotic courses. The IDSA and American Thoracic Society (IDSA/ATS) CAP guidelines recommend 5 days of therapy for clinically stable patients that quickly defervesce and stewardship teams are well positioned to influence prescribing practices.

New developments in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections: considerations for the effective use of dalbavancin.

Dalbavancin, an intravenous glycopeptide, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in May 2014 for use in adult patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. The recommended dosing regimen for effective use of dalbavancin is 1,000 mg followed by a 500 mg dose after 1 week. Two multinational, identically designed, non-inferiority trials, DISCOVER 1 and 2, demonstrated similar early clinical success with dalbavancin compared to vancomycin with an option to switch to oral linezolid.

Examining the Clinical Effectiveness of Non-Carbapenem β-Lactams for the Treatment of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Treatment options for extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae are limited. Piperacillin-tazobactam and cefepime represent potential alternative treatment options; however, large prospective studies are lacking. This review evaluates the current literature regarding use of piperacillin-tazobactam and cefepime for the treatment of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Impact of antimicrobial stewardship intervention on coagulase-negative Staphylococcus blood cultures in conjunction with rapid diagnostic testing.

Rapid diagnostic testing with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) decreases the time to organism identification by 24 to 36 h compared to the amount of time required by conventional methods. However, there are limited data evaluating the impact of MALDI-TOF with real-time antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) review and intervention on antimicrobial prescribing and outcomes for patients with bacteremia and blood cultures contaminated with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS). A quasiexperimental study was conducted to analyze the impact of rapid diagnostic testing with MALDI-TOF plus AST review and intervention for adult hospitalized patients with blood cultures positive for CoNS.

Impact of rapid organism identification via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight combined with antimicrobial stewardship team intervention in adult patients with bacteremia and candidemia.

Background: Integration of rapid diagnostic testing via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) with antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) intervention has the potential for early organism identification, customization of antibiotic therapy, and improvement in patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of this combined approach on clinical and antimicrobial therapy-related outcomes in patients with bloodstream infections.

Methods: A pre-post quasi-experimental study was conducted to analyze the impact of MALDI-TOF with AST intervention in patients with bloodstream infections.