Could ceftaroline be an alternative therapy for linezolid resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis infections in Intensive Care Medicine?

INTRODUCTION: Coagulase negative Staphylococcus continues generating interest in critically ill patients, due to their infections in extended admissions, in instrumented patients and due to their described multidrug resistance, which include glycopeptide heterorresistance and the increase in oxazolidinone resistance. Ceftaroline is a new cephalosporin with activity against resistant gram-positives, which, being betalactam, may provide adequate safety profile in the critical ill patient. The aim of this study was to determine the activity of ceftaroline and other antimicrobial agents against methicillin and linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied susceptibility of ceftaroline, tigecycline, daptomycin and vancomycin in a total of sixty-eight methicillin and linezolid-resistant S. epidermidis isolates with clinical significance from an Intensive Care Unit, using E-test.

RESULTS: All strains were susceptible to the four antimicrobial agents, regardless of the level of resistance to linezolid.

CONCLUSION: Ceftaroline could be an alternative in the treatment of methicillin and linezolid-resistant S. epidermidis infections in critically ill patients.