Sequential oral antibiotic in uncomplicated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia: a propensity-matched cohort analysis

Oral switch vs. continued intravenous antibiotic therapy in patients with bacteraemia and sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Bacteraemia and sepsis have traditionally required continued intravenous (IV) antibiotics.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to evaluate if early transition to oral antibiotics is non-inferior to continued IV antibiotic therapy in treating patients with bacteraemia and sepsis.

DATA SOURCES

Data sources include MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Wanfang databases from inception to 13 July 2024, along with clinical trial registries and Google.com.

STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Study eligibility criteria include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants include patients with bacteraemia and sepsis.

INTERVENTIONS

Interventions include early transition to oral antibiotics vs. continued IV antibiotics. Early oral switch was defined as 5-9 days for uncomplicated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, <4 weeks for complicated S. aureus bacteraemia, 3-7 days for uncomplicated Streptococcus bacteraemia, and 3-5 days for uncomplicated Enterobacterales bacteraemia.

ASSESSMENT OF RISK OF BIAS

Assessment of risk of bias includes Cochrane risk of bias tool and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

METHODS OF DATA SYNTHESIS

Random-effect models were used to pool the data. The primary outcome was treatment failure. The non-inferiority margin for treatment failure was 10%. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach was used to rate the certainty of the evidence.

RESULTS

In total, 38 studies (6 RCTs, 10 adjusted cohorts, and 22 unadjusted cohorts) involving 11 566 patients were included. A primary analysis of 6 RCTs and 10 adjusted cohorts comprised 7102 patients. High-certainty evidence from six RCTs showed that early transition to oral antibiotics was non-inferior to continued IV therapy for treatment failure (n = 529; OR 0.89; 95% CI: 0.54-1.48). Low-certainty evidence from five adjusted cohorts also found no significant difference in treatment failure between the two groups (n = 929; OR 0.60; 95% CI: 0.29-1.72). Moderate-certainty evidence showed that oral switch therapy significantly reduced hospital stay (n = 2041; mean difference: -5.19 days; 95% CI: -8.16 to -2.22).

CONCLUSIONS

Early transition to oral antibiotics was non-inferior to continued IV antibiotic treatment for bacteraemia and sepsis.

Transitioning to oral therapy compared to IV in Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and Objective

Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections pose a significant threat to public health and necessitate substantial healthcare resources. The optimal antimicrobial therapy for these infections remains a subject of debate. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of early transition to oral antimicrobial therapy compared with continued intravenous (IV) therapy in patients with MRSA and MSSA bloodstream infections.

Method

A PRISMA-guided systematic review and meta-analysis compared the early transition from intravenous to oral antibiotics with continued intravenous therapy in patients with S. aureus infections, utilizing relevant studies from the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from August 2003 to June 2024.

Results

This meta-analysis of 11 studies (N = 54-220, primarily male, age: mid-30s to early 70s) revealed a 71.6% higher risk of all-cause mortality for patients transitioned to early oral therapy than for those who continued IV therapy (RR: 1.716; 95% CI: 1.039-2.836; P = 0.035; I2 = 44%). Treatment failure, rehospitalization rates, adverse events, and hospital stay lengths did not differ significantly between groups.

Conclusion

Early oral antimicrobial therapy for S. aureus bloodstream infections significantly reduces mortality compared to prolonged intravenous treatment, without increasing the incidence of adverse events or the risk of rehospitalization, suggesting its safety and efficacy as an alternative therapeutic approach; however, further randomized controlled trials are necessary to corroborate these findings.

Early Oral Antibiotic Switch in Staphylococcus aureus Bacteraemia: The Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform (SNAP) Trial Early Oral Switch Protocol

BACKGROUND

Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (bacteremia) is traditionally treated with at least 2 weeks of intravenous (IV) antibiotics in adults, 3-7 days in children, and often longer for those with complicated disease. The current practice of treating S. aureus bacteremia (SAB) with prolonged IV antibiotics (rather than oral antibiotics) is based on historical observational research and expert opinion. Prolonged IV antibiotic therapy has significant disadvantages for patients and healthcare systems, and there is growing interest in whether a switch to oral antibiotics following an initial period of IV therapy is a safe alternative for clinically stable patients.

PROTOCOL

The early oral switch (EOS) domain of the S. aureus Network Adaptive Platform (SNAP) trial will assess early switch to oral antibiotics compared with continued IV treatment in clinically stable patients with SAB. The primary endpoint is 90-day all-cause mortality. Hospitalised SAB patients are assessed at platform day 7 ±2 (uncomplicated SAB) and day 14 ±2 (complicated SAB) to determine their eligibility for randomization to EOS (intervention) or continued IV treatment (current standard of care).

DISCUSSION

Recruitment is occurring in the EOS domain of the SNAP trial. As of August 2023, 21% of all SNAP participants had been randomized to the EOS domain, a total of 264 participants across 77 centers, with an aim to recruit at least 1000 participants. We describe challenges and facilitators to enrolment in this domain to aid those planning similar trials.

Efficacy and safety of an early oral switch in low-risk Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SABATO): an international, open-label, parallel-group, randomised, controlled, non-inferiority trial

BACKGROUND

Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection is treated with at least 14 days of intravenous antimicrobials. We assessed the efficacy and safety of an early switch to oral therapy in patients at low risk for complications related to S aureus bloodstream infection.

METHODS

In this international, open-label, randomised, controlled, non-inferiority trial done in 31 tertiary care hospitals in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain, adult patients with low-risk S aureus bloodstream infection were randomly assigned after 5-7 days of intravenous antimicrobial therapy to oral antimicrobial therapy or to continue intravenous standard therapy. Randomisation was done via a central web-based system, using permuted blocks of varying length, and stratified by study centre. The main exclusion criteria were signs and symptoms of complicated S aureus bloodstream infection, non-removable foreign devices, and severe comorbidity. The composite primary endpoint was the occurrence of any complication related to S aureus bloodstream infection (relapsing S aureus bloodstream infection, deep-seated infection, and mortality attributable to infection) within 90 days, assessed in the intention-to-treat population by clinical assessors who were masked to treatment assignment. Adverse events were assessed in all participants who received at least one dose of study medication (safety population). Due to slow recruitment, the scientific advisory committee decided on Jan 15, 2018, to stop the trial after 215 participants were randomly assigned (planned sample size was 430 participants) and to convert the planned interim analysis into the final analysis. The decision was taken without knowledge of outcome data, at a time when 126 participants were enrolled. The new sample size accommodated a non-inferiority margin of 10%; to claim non-inferiority, the upper bound of the 95% CI for the treatment difference (stratified by centre) had to be below 10 percentage points. The trial is closed to recruitment and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01792804), the German Clinical trials register (DRKS00004741), and EudraCT (2013-000577-77).

FINDINGS

Of 5063 patients with S aureus bloodstream infection assessed for eligibility, 213 were randomly assigned to switch to oral therapy (n=108) or to continue intravenous therapy (n=105). Mean age was 63·5 (SD 17·2) years and 148 (69%) participants were male and 65 (31%) were female. In the oral switch group, 14 (13%) participants met the primary endpoint versus 13 (12%) in the intravenous group, with a treatment difference of 0·7 percentage points (95% CI -7·8 to 9·1; p=0·013). In the oral switch group, 36 (34%) of 107 participants in the safety population had at least one serious adverse event compared with 27 (26%) of 103 participants in the intravenous group (p=0·29).

INTERPRETATION

Oral switch antimicrobial therapy was non-inferior to intravenous standard therapy in participants with low-risk S aureus bloodstream infection. However, it is necessary to carefully assess patients for signs and symptoms of complicated S aureus bloodstream infection at the time of presentation and thereafter before considering early oral switch therapy.

FUNDING

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

TRANSLATIONS

For the German, Spanish, French and Dutch translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Oral Antibiotics for Bacteremia and Infective Endocarditis: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives

Bacteremia and endocarditis are two clinical syndromes that, for decades, were managed exclusively with parenteral antimicrobials, irrespective of a given patient's clinical condition, causative pathogen, or its antibiotic susceptibility profile. This clinical approach, however, was based on low-quality data and outdated expert opinions. When a patient's condition has improved, gastrointestinal absorption is not compromised, and an oral antibiotic regimen reaching adequate serum concentrations is available, a switch to oral antibacterials can be applied. Although available evidence has reduced the timing of the oral switch in bacteremia to three days/until clinical improvement, there are only scarce data regarding less than 10-day intravenous antibiotic therapy in endocarditis. Many standard or studied oral antimicrobial dosages are smaller than the approved doses for parenteral administration, which is a risk factor for treatment failure; in addition, the gastrointestinal barrier may affect drug bioavailability, especially when the causative pathogen has a minimum inhibitory concentration that is close to the susceptibility breakpoint. A considerable number of patients infected by such near-breakpoint strains may not be potential candidates for oral step-down therapy to non-highly bioavailable antibiotics like beta-lactams; different breakpoints should be determined for this setting. This review will focus on summarizing findings about pathogen-specific tailoring of oral step-down therapy for bacteremia and endocarditis, but will also present laboratory and clinical data about antibiotics such as beta-lactams, linezolid, and fosfomycin that should be studied more in order to elucidate their role and optimal dosage in this context.

Contemporary Management of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia-Controversies in Clinical Practice

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) carries a high risk for excess morbidity and mortality. Despite its prevalence, significant practice variation continues to permeate clinical management of this syndrome. Since the publication of the 2011 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines on management of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, the field of SAB has evolved with the emergence of newer diagnostic strategies and therapeutic options. In this review, we seek to provide a comprehensive overview of the evaluation and management of SAB, with special focus on areas where the highest level of evidence is lacking to inform best practices.