Posted by kaleidoscope on April 12, 2008, at 15:38:40
In reply to Re: Serotonin syndrome » kaleidoscope, posted by Phillipa on April 12, 2008, at 14:30:46
Hi again PJ,
Infections due to MRSA can be very serious but they can also be relatively minor eg. impetigo can be caused by MRSA. Vancomycin tends to be used for serious infections such as pneumonia.
Vancomycin should not be used to treat S. aureus infections unless they are resistant to anti-staphylococcal penicillins because it is less active and more toxic than these drugs eg. flucloxacillin, dicloxacillin. A small percentage of S. aureus (probably about 10% in the UK but less elsewhere) are still sensitive to penicillin G - the original penicillin. Penicillin G is exceptionally active and non-toxic so anyone whose S. aureus infection is sensitive to penicillin G is quite lucky!
Bearing in mind that only around 10% of patients who claim to be allergic to penicillins actually are allergic on further testing, vancomycin is sometimes overused in patients who believe they are allergic to penicillins.... and who would otherwise be treated with flucloxacillin or a related drug NB. Most penicillin side effects have nothing to do with allergy and people who get a late-onset (after a few days) macular/papular rash on amoxicillin are not allergic but usually have mononucleosis.
poster:kaleidoscope
thread:822857
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080412/msgs/822900.html