Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and endocarditis

Feng-Yee Chang
Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is a serious and common disease often associated with infective endocarditis. It occurs in both healthy, immunologically competent people in the community and compromised patients in the hospitals. For S. aureus bacteremia, questions on clinical issues such as antimicrobial treatment are raised. Is nafcillin/oxacillin superior to vancomycin? Does the addition of rifampin improve outcome? Does addition of aminoglycoside improve the outcome? Does increasing duration of therapy (> 4 weeks versus

J Microbiol Immunol Infect 2000;33:63-68.