Treatment Options for Persistent Coagulase Negative Staphylococcal Bacteremia in Neonates

Background: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the leading cause of late-onset sepsis in neonatal intensive-care units (NICUs). Despite adequate therapeutic levels and in vivo susceptibility, vancomycin is not always adequate in clearing CoNS bacteremias and other theurapeutic regimens are warranted especially when dealing with persistent CoNS bacteremias.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of neonates with persistent CoNS bacteremias in a tertiary NICU in two study periods (January 2006 to December 2007 and January 2011 to December 2012). Demographics, clinical characteristics and antibiotics used were recorded. We also performed a literature review on the treatment options for persistent CoNS bacteremia.

Results: Out of the 1485 admissions during the 4 years, 121 (8,1%) neonates developed CoNS bacteremia and 42 of them (34.7%) were persistent. The most common CoNS species was S.epidermidis (91%). Apart from the shorter mean duration of bacteremia (p = 0.003), during the second part of the study, no other differences were observed between the two study periods. Ten (23.8%) neonates were treated with vancomycin monotherapy. In 23 (54.7%) neonates, rifampicin was added to vancomycin. Linezolid was given to seven neonates (16.6%), whereas daptomycin was given to two neonates (4.7%). No differences were found when we compared the characteristics of neonates treated with different antibiotics. All neonates tolerated treatment well. Our literature review revealed 16 relevant studies, the majority of which are small case series.

Conclusion: The addition of rifampicin, linezolid and daptomycin in neonates with persistent CoNS bacteremia can provide useful therapeutic alternatives. Further studies are required to bring more insight into the field.