title: Potential role for telavancin in bacteremic infections due to gram-positive pathogens: focus on Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is one of the most common serious bacterial infections and the most frequent invasive infection due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Treatment is challenging, particularly for MRSA, because of limited treatment options. Telavancin is a bactericidal lipoglycopeptide antibiotic that is active against a range of clinically relevant gram-positive pathogens including MRSA. In experimental animal models of sepsis telavancin was shown to be more effective than vancomycin. In clinically evaluable patients enrolled in a pilot study of uncomplicated SAB, cure rates were 88% for telavancin and 89% for standard therapy. Among patients with infection due to only gram-positive pathogens enrolled in the 2 phase 3 studies of telavancin for treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia, cure rates for those with bacteremic S. aureus pneumonia were 41% (9/22, telavancin) and 40% (10/25, vancomycin) with identical mortality rates. These data support further evaluation of telavancin in larger, prospective studies of SAB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: G Ralph
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Corey
authors.affiliation: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: Ethan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas 'Norberto Quirno' (CEMIC), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Martin E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Stryjewski
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Division, Santa Maria Misericordia University Hospital, Piazzale Santa Maria della Misericordia, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bassetti
authors.affiliation: Theravance Biopharma US, Inc., South San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Barriere
mesh_terms: D000617:Aminoglycosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D000077427:Lipoglycopeptides; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000617:Aminoglycosides; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000077427:Lipoglycopeptides; C487637:telavancin
keywords: MRSA; Staphylococcus aureus; bacteremia; experimental; telavancin