Comparative study on safety of linezolid and vancomycin in the treatment of infants and neonates for Gram-positive bacterial infections

Comparison of incidence of hyponatremia between linezolid and vancomycin in neonates and infants

A previous study reported that the incidence of hyponatremia after linezolid (LZD) use was higher than that with vancomycin (VCM) use in adults. However, hyponatremia due to LZD in neonates and infants was not investigated. This study aimed to compare the incidence of hyponatremia between LZD and VCM use in neonates and infants. The retrospective study was conducted at the Aichi Medical University Hospital. All patients who were cared for in NICU or GCU and received ≥3 days of LZD or VCM were included in this study. Hyponatremia was defined as serum sodium level ≤134 mEq/L and ≥5 % decrease from baseline after administration of LZD or VCM. A total of 76 patients (LZD, N = 36; VCM, N = 37) were included. There was no significant difference in the incidence of hyponatremia between the two groups (19.4 % vs 16.2 %, p = 0.72). The proportion of patients with a minimum value of serum sodium ≤134 mEq/L during treatment was 47.3 % in the LZD group and 35.1 % in the VCM group (p = 0.29), and the decrease in serum sodium level from baseline to the minimum value was 80.5 % and 78.4 %, respectively (p = 0.85). In conclusion, there was no significant difference in the incidence of hyponatremia between the LZD and VCM groups. Therefore, it is not necessary to avoid LZD use in neonates and infants because of the risk of hyponatremia.

Linezolid and vancomycin for nosocomial infections in pediatric patients: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effectiveness of linezolid and vancomycin for the treatment of nosocomial infections in children under 12 years old.

DATA SOURCES

This is a systematic review in which five randomized clinical trials about the effectiveness of linezolid and vancomycin, involving a total of 429 children with nosocomial infections, were evaluated. They were searched in scientific databases: PubMed, Bvs, and SciELO.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The main nosocomial infections that affected children were bacteremia, skin, and soft tissue infections followed by nosocomial pneumonia. Most infections were caused by Gram-positive bacteria, which all studies showed infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci strains being isolated. Both linezolid and vancomycin showed high therapeutic efficacy against different types of nosocomial infections, ranging from 84.4% to 94% for linezolid and 76.9% to 90% for vancomycin. Patients receiving linezolid had lower rates of rash and red man syndrome compared to those receiving vancomycin. However, despite the adverse reactions, antimicrobials can be safely administered to children to treat nosocomial infections caused by resistant Gram-positive bacteria.

CONCLUSION

Both linezolid and vancomycin showed good efficacy in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by resistant Gram-positive bacteria in hospitalized children. However, linezolid stands out regarding its pharmacological safety. Importantly, to strengthen this conclusion, further clinical trials are needed to provide additional evidence.

Daptomycin Use for Persistent Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcal Bacteremia in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

During the last two decades, the incidence of late-onset sepsis (LOS) has increased due to improved survival of premature neonates. Persistent bacteremia (PB) in LOS is defined as more than two positive blood cultures obtained on different calendar days during the same infectious episode. Although rare, PB should be treated aggressively to prevent adverse outcomes. Daptomycin, a lipopeptide antibiotic, has been used in neonates with persistent coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) bacteremia with promising results, but studies reporting on the efficacy and safety of the agent are scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of daptomycin use for persistent CoNS bacteremia in a neonatal cohort. This is a retrospective, observational, single-center study of neonates treated with daptomycin during 2011-2022 in the Tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the University General Hospital of Patras, Greece. For the years 2011-2022, there were 3.413 admissions to the NICU. During the last 3 years (2020-2022)-the active epidemiological surveillance period-123 infants (out of 851 admissions, 14.4%) developed CoNS bacteremia (LOS). During the study period, twelve infants with PB were treated with daptomycin. They had a median gestational age of 32 weeks (IQR 31-34) and mean (SD) birth weight of 1.840 (867) grams. CoNS bacteremia isolates were s. epidermidis (50%), s. haemolyticus (20%), s. hominis (20%) and s. warneri (10%). The decision to start daptomycin (6 mg/kg/dose twice daily) was taken on median day 10 (ΙQR 7-15) of infection. None of the infants had focal complications or meningitis. Daptomycin therapy caused no renal, hepatic, muscular or gastrointestinal adverse events. One neonate developed seizures, and one death occurred due to multiple complications of prematurity. Most infants (11/12) were successfully treated and eventually had negative blood culture. Daptomycin monotherapy showed an adequate cure rate in premature neonates with persistent CoNS bacteremia in a tertiary NICU. In our study, daptomycin was effective and well tolerated; the safety profile, however, needs to be confirmed in larger studies and randomized controlled trials.

Linezolid for resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections in children under 12 years: A meta-analysis

Both linezolid and vancomycin have good efficacy in the treatment of resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of linezolid vs vancomycin for the treatment of resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections in children under 12 years. Five randomly controlled trials involving 638 children that were treated with linezolid and vancomycin for resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections were searched from medical databases. Meta-analysis showed that linezolid and vancomycin had equivalent efficacies in clinical cure rates in the intent-to-treat population (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88, 2.09) and microbiologically evaluable patients (95% CI: 0.46, 2.47). Linezolid and vancomycin also had equivalent pathogen eradication rates for Staphylococcus aureus (95% CI: 0.31, 4.81), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (95% CI: 0.36, 5.34), Enterococcus faecalis (95% CI: 0.32, 8.76), and coagulase-negative Staphylococci (95% CI: 0.43, 4.01). Vancomycin resulted in a higher incidence of alanine aminotransferase increase (95% CI: 0.37, 0.97), red man syndrome (95% CI: 0.01, 0.28), and rash (95% CI: 0.11, 0.73) than linezolid. Clinically, linezolid had a superior safety to vancomycin for resistant Gram-positive infections. Linezolid might be prescribed for the treatment of resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections in children under 12 years.

Systematic review and meta-analysis to explore optimal therapeutic range of vancomycin trough level for infected paediatric patients with Gram-positive pathogens to reduce mortality and nephrotoxicity risk

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between vancomycin trough level and clinical outcomes (mortality and nephrotoxicity) among infected paediatric patients with Gram-positive pathogens. We systematically searched the Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed and CINAHL databases up to March 2020. A total of seven retrospective cohort or case-control studies were included to compare clinical effects and safety: three studies set the threshold of vancomycin trough level at 10 mg/L and the others set it at 15 mg/L. Our analysis showed that vancomycin trough level of 10-15 mg/L was associated with significantly lower mortality [<10 mg/L vs. ≥10 mg/L, odds ratio (OR) = 3.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.74-5.91; and <15 mg/L vs. ≥15 mg/L, OR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.10-0.95). The high vancomycin trough group (≥10 mg/L or ≥15 mg/L) showed a higher incidence of nephrotoxicity (<10 mg/L vs. ≥10 mg/L, OR = 0.06, 95% CI 0.03-0.12; and <15 mg/L vs. ≥15 mg/L, OR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.12-0.65). This is the first meta-analysis to reveal the optimal therapeutic range of vancomycin trough level in children. Our findings strongly suggest a superior benefit of vancomycin trough of 10-15 mg/L for paediatric patients.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of myelosuppression in pediatric patients treated with linezolid for Gram-positive bacterial infections

BACKGROUND

The incidence of linezolid-induced myelosuppression in pediatric patients was reported at large difference among prospective studies, with a range of 0-24%. Additionally, there is little study which evaluated the impact of linezolid administration period on myelosuppression in pediatric patients, while it is one of the most frequent reason that linezolid therapy has to be discontinued in adult patients. Here, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to reveal the incidence of linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia and anemia, and impact of the administration period of linezolid on myelosuppression based on individual data analysis of pediatric patients.

METHODS

We systematically searched the Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, and CINAHL until April 2020. We investigated the incidence of linezolid-induced thrombocytopenia and anemia using pooled analysis, and evaluated the impact of linezolid administration period on myelosuppression using meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies with 969 pediatric patients were identified. The pooled incidences of thrombocytopenia and anemia were 9% (95% confidence interval (CI), 3-18%) and 4% (95% CI, 0-12%), respectively. Our meta-analysis showed the extension of linezolid administration period (more than 14 days) resulted in higher incidence of thrombocytopenia (OR 4.86, 95% CI 1.10-21.55) and anemia (OR 4.57, 95% CI 0.13-160.49).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of linezolid-induced myelosuppression in pediatric patients was less than 10%. However, our meta-analysis revealed linezolid administration period for more than 14 days was one of risk factors associated with linezolid-induced myelosuppression. Therefore, especially for pediatric patients treated with linezolid for more than 14 days, careful monitoring of myelosuppression is required.

Staphylococcal meningitis therapy with linezolid in a young infant: efficacy, CSF levels and side effects

Background

Linezolid is a synthetic antibiotic which is active against most Gram-positive bacteria, especially on Staphylococcus aureus. Its administration can be required when the infection is due to staphylococcus strains, which are resistant to vancomycin. Although mostly well tolerated, some mild to moderate side effects have been reported.

Case presentation

This case report describes an infant with multiloculated hydrocephalus, staphylococcal meningitis and prolonged linezolid therapy, in which we observed the association between linezolid administration and a lengthened QTc interval at the electrocardiogram (ECG). To rule out toxic levels during the therapy, plasma and cerebro-spinal fluid concentrations of linezolid were measured and reported.

Conclusions

Although generally well tolerated in neonates and infants, linezolid prolonged administration seems be able to cause QTc interval prolongation. Therefore, its administration in such patients should be limited to cases of bacterial resistance to other antibiotics. In addition to well-known close monitoring of the platelet level, we suggest serial ECG controls before and during linezolid administration. In the case we report, linezolid plasma concentrations resulted within the therapeutic range during therapy, while cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations appeared lower than those considered effective.