UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Daptomycin and MRSA

Posted: 9/15/2009 by Mike Winters, MD (Updated: 4/18/2024)
Click here to contact Mike Winters, MD

Daptomycin and MRSA

Several new antibiotics are approved for the treatment of infections due to MRSA: linezolid, daptomycin, and tigecycline.
Although most are familiar with linezolid, it seems that both daptomycin and tigecycline are being used more frequently.
A few pearls on daptomycin:
- administered IV once daily
- dose needs to be adjusted in patients with renal failure
- exerts its effect through a calcium-dependent binding to the bacterial membrane resulting in cell death
Importantly, daptomycin is inactivated by pulmonary surfactant and therefore should not be given in patients with suspected MRSA pneumonia.

Stryjewski ME, Corey GR. New treatments for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Curr Opin Crit Care 2009;15:403-12.