Decrease Rate of S aureus Resistance Seen With Certain Antibiotics

HealthDay News — Staphylococcus aureus infections among US hospital patients have been less resistant to key antibiotics in recent years, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Microbe 2017, held from June 1 to 5 in New Orleans.¹

Between 2009 and 2015, researchers tested antibiotic resistance in 19,036 S aureus samples from 42 medical centers nationwide. They found that rates of S aureus resistance to the antibiotic oxacillin fell from 47.2% in 2009 to 43.6% in 2015 to 42.2% in 2016. S aureus resistance to other antibiotics, such as levofloxacin, clindamycin, and erythromycin, also decreased. Resistance to ceftaroline, trimethoprim-sulfanethoxazole, and tetracycline was stable, the researchers said.

The investigators also found that the antibiotic ceftaroline remained very effective against methicillin-resistant Saureus and methicillin-susceptible S aureus during the study period. Furthermore, S aureus resistance to daptomycin, linezolid, vancomycin, and tigecycline stayed extremely rare with no sign of increasing.

“Results showed that S aureus‘ rates of resistance to certain antibiotics decreased over time, which isn’t often seen,” study coauthor Helio Sader, MD, PhD, senior director of microbiology and surveillance at JMI Laboratories in North Liberty, Iowa, said in an American Society for Microbiology news release.²

Data used in this investigation were generated as part of the AWARE Program, which is sponsored by Allergan.

References

1. Antimicrobial susceptibility trends among Staphylococcus aureus from US hospitals: results from 7 years of the Ceftaroline (AWARE) Surveillance Program (2009-2015). Presented at: ASM Microbe 2017. New Orleans, LA; June 1-5. Session 337-AAID01. Poster 142.
2. Increasing Susceptibility of Staphlococcus Aureus in the United States [press release]. Washington DC: American Society for Microbiology. Published June 4, 2017. Accessed June 22, 2017.