Lincosamide monotherapy treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia in tropical Australia: a case series

Stuart Campbell; Simon Smith; Josh Hanson

doi:10.1007/s10096-024-04816-9

Lincosamide monotherapy treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia in tropical Australia: a case series

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2024 Apr 12. doi: 10.1007/s10096-024-04816-9. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Stuart Campbell¹, Simon Smith¹, Josh Hanson^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Cairns Hospital, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
² Department of Medicine, Cairns Hospital, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. jhanson@kirby.unsw.edu.au.
³ The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. jhanson@kirby.unsw.edu.au.

PMID: 38607577
DOI: 10.1007/s10096-024-04816-9

Abstract

Existing recommended first-line antibiotic agents for MRSA pneumonia have several shortcomings. We reviewed 29 cases of community- and hospital-acquired MRSA pneumonia managed at our hospital. Lincosamide monotherapy was administered to 21/29 (72%) and was the predominant antibiotic regimen (> 50% course duration) in 19/29 (66%). Patients receiving lincosamide-predominant monotherapy were no more likely to die or require intensive care unit admission than patients receiving vancomycin-predominant monotherapy (5/19 (26%) versus 4/7 (57%), p = 0.19); 5/7 (71%) patients admitted to ICU and 4/5 (80%) bacteraemic patients received lincosamide-predominant monotherapy. MRSA pneumonia can be safely treated with lincosamide monotherapy if the isolate is susceptible.

Keywords: Antibiotic therapy.; Critical illness; Lincosamides; Methicillin-resistant; Pneumonia; Staphylococcus aureus.