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Empiric Treatment of Staphylococcus Bacteremia

Disclaimer: this is not a prescription. Using medicines without the guidance of a licensed provider  can be lethal

This is not a prescription for any specific patient.

Staphylococcus Aureus is the leading cause of community and hospital-acquired bacteremia. Treatment failure is common in S. Aureus patients, especially in MRSA infected patient. Treatment failure means:

  •  Death within 30 days following treatment. Or,
  •  Persistent bacteremia after 10 days of suitable therapy. Or,
  •  Recurrence of bacteremia after 60 days of discontinuing the therapy.

The treatment approach is to remove the source (catheter etc.) and antimicrobial therapy. Therapy needs culture and susceptibility tests. While waiting for these the empiric therapy can be:

Vancomycin (15-20 mg/kg every 8-12 h, not to exceed 2g/dose)

Daptomycin (6 mg/kg once daily) is a reasonable alternative.

 

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