title: A case series of macrolide treatment failures in community acquired pneumonia.
abstract: This was a retrospective, multi-center study of patients admitted to hospital with community-acquired pneumonia, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, after failing to respond to >2 days of outpatient macrolide therapy. 122 cases, treated between 2000-2004, were enrolled from 31 North American sites between January 2004 - March 2005. Non-susceptible isolates (predominately low-level resistance: erythromycin MICs of 1-16 mcg/ml) were recovered from 87 patients (71%). Bacteremia was present in 63 patients (52%). The in-hospital mortality rate was 5.7 %; all 7 patients who died were bacteremic, 6 had a non-susceptible isolate. We report here the largest series of macrolide failures published to date. The patients were notable for their high rates of macrolide resistance, bacteremia, and mortality. High-level macrolide resistance remains rare among US patients failing outpatient macrolides. The majority of cases and virtually all of the mortality occurred in patients with low-level resistant strains.
authors: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: P B
authors: PB
authors: Iannini
authors: J A
authors: JA
authors: Paladino
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Lavin
authors: M E
authors: ME
authors: Singer
authors: J J
authors: JJ
authors: Schentag
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016470:Bacteremia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018942:Macrolides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D018942:Macrolides