301 - Penicillin Versus Cefazolin or Anti-staphylococcal Penicillins for Penicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is a significant cause of mortality. Penicillin (PCN) may have a role in the treatment of penicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (PSSA) bacteremia as it has a narrower spectrum of activity than cefazolin and is better tolerated than antistaphylococcal penicillins (ASPs). The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of PCN versus cefazolin or ASPs in the treatment of PSSA bacteremia.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective study at a tertiary academic medical center. All patients with a PSSA blood culture from January 1, 2012 to September 1, 2019 were screened. Patients were excluded if they were treated with a definitive antibiotic (defined as antimicrobial therapy received 72 hours after positive blood culture) other than the study comparators, or if they received combination antibiotic therapy >72 hours from the initial positive blood culture result. The primary outcome was 60-day clinical failure, which was a composite endpoint of change in antibiotic after 72 hours of definitive therapy, recurrence of PSSA bacteremia, infection-related readmission, or all-cause mortality.

Results: Of 277 patients with PSSA bacteremia, 101 patients were included in the study; 62 (61%) were male and 11 (11%) had a β-lactam allergy. At baseline, 40 patients (40%) had hardware, 25 (25%) had an intravenous line, 6 (6%) were on dialysis, and 4 (4%) had active IV drug use, with similar distribution across antibiotic groups. Penicillin was the most common antibiotic used (Table 1). There was a significant difference among groups with respect to the 60-day clinical failure (log-rank p=0.019). In terms of unadjusted 60-day clinical failure, penicillin had similar outcomes to cefazolin (95% CI -0.29 to 0.104, p=0.376), however, it had statistically significant better outcomes in comparison to the ASPs, nafcillin or oxacillin (95% CI 0.023 to 0.482, p=0.031) (Table 1).Table 1. 60-day outcomes of PSSA bacteremia


Conclusion: Penicillin is effective and safe in the treatment of PSSA bacteremia and may be preferable to antistaphylococcal penicillins