The role of dalbavancin for Gram positive infections in the COVID-19 era: state of the art and future perspectives

Link to article at PubMed

Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2021 Mar 8. doi: 10.1080/14787210.2021.1894130. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically challenged the national health systems worldwide in the last months, causing a huge reorganization of care facilities and reaffirming the central role of territorial medicine. Dalbavancin is a novel antibiotic with a long plasmatic half-life and simplified weekly administration regimens, thus representing a promising option for the outpatient treatment of Gram-positive infections and the early discharge of hospitalized patients. Dalbavancin is currently approved for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs), but many preliminary data seem to support its use in other clinical indications, such as osteomyelitis, prosthetic joint infections and infective endocarditis.

AREAS COVERED: : A search in the literature using validated keywords (dalbavancin, gram-positive infections, gram-positive cocci, ABSSSI, intravenous treatment and long-acting antibiotics) was conducted on biomedical bibliographic databases (PubMed and Embase) from 2004 to September 30, 2020. Results were analysed during two consensus conferences with the aim to review the current evidence on the employment of dalbavancin in Gram-positive infections, mainly ABSSSI, osteomyelitis and infective endocarditis, highlight the main limitations of available studies and suggest possible advantages of the molecule in the clinical routine.

EXPERT OPINION: : The board identifies some specific subgroups of patients with ABSSSIs who could mostly benefit from a treatment with dalbavancin and agrees that the design of homogenous and robust studies would allow a broader use of dalbavancin even in other clinical settings.

PMID:33682593 | DOI:10.1080/14787210.2021.1894130

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *