Commonly Prescribed Antibiotic May Not Work Best Against MRSA Skin Infections In Children
Posted Aug 16 2011 6:48pm
In the battle against community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) skin infections, many doctors’ offices may be choosing incorrectly when selecting oral antibiotics to treat children.
A large study conducted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers, published in this week’s edition of the journal Pediatrics, demonstrates a dramatic increase in the use of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or TMP-SMX (Bactrim) to counter the explosion of CA-MRSA skin boils in children across Tennessee. But another drug – clindamycin — may work better.
“These data are very revealing as to what is happening out in the trenches – that Bactrim is not as effective as clindamycin in either treating the initial infection (of skin boils) or preventing repeat infections over the next year,” said the study’s senior author, Buddy Creech, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.