Concerns over drug resistance in Gram-negative infections has led to changes in drug usage in USA

Piperacillin-tazobactam is a leading and preferred therapy for Gram-negative infections (GNIs), accounting for a notable share of days of therapy for confirmed GNIs, notes a new report, titled, TreatmentTrends: Gram-Negative Infections (US), from Decision Resources’ BioTrends Research unit.

The report finds the fluoroquinolones, including ciprofloxacin, Bayer/Merck’s Avelox and Janssen’s Levaquin, are also frequently used to treat GNIs. However surveyed ID specialists report high treatment failure rates among patients treated with these drugs and frequently cite decreasing their prescribing of the fluoroquinolones due to resistance to the drug class.

AMR patient-level data in this study shows that the number of patients treated for GNIs due to clinically important pathogens has stabilized over the past five years, but over half of ID specialists indicate that they are observing increasing incidences of drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, such as extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL)-producing pathogens, carbapenem-resistant pathogens, fluoroquinolone-resistant pathogens and multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.