Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia has a high case-fatality rate, but currently recommended antimicrobial therapies have many shortcomings. The efficacy and safety of lincosamide therapy for MRSA bacteremia is incompletely defined. A retrospective audit was done of the management of all adults with MRSA bacteremia at an Australian tertiary referral hospital between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2020. A total of 176 patients were included. The case-fatality rate declined from 14/57 (25%) in the first half of the study to 12/119 (10%) in the second half (P = 0.01). Of the 172 patients receiving antibiotics, 62 (36%) received a lincosamide-predominant regimen (lincosamide monotherapy for >50% of the intravenous course). The patients receiving lincosamide-predominant intravenous therapy had lower in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01 to 0.53; P = 0.01) and a lower incidence of renal complications (OR [95% CI], 0.34 [0.15-0.75]; P = 0.008) than patients receiving an alternative regimen. In multivariate analysis that also considered age, disease severity, comorbidity, infectious diseases consultation, source control, and the year of admission, patients receiving a lincosamide-predominant regimen were still less likely to die in the hospital than those receiving an alternative regimen (OR [95% CI], 0.05 [0.00 to 0.65]; P = 0.02). Lincosamides appear to have utility, at least as stepdown therapy, in the treatment of MRSA bacteremia, particularly in young, clinically stable patients with few comorbidities in whom endocarditis has been excluded. Prospective studies will help define their optimal role.
Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus; antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial safety; bacteremia; lincosamides; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; sepsis.