Outcomes no worse for macrolide-resistant pneumonia

(HealthDay)—For patients with Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia, macrolide-resistance is not associated with worse outcomes, according to a study published online March 25 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Catia Cilloniz, Ph.D., from the University of Barcelona in Spain, and colleagues conducted a retrospective, observational study involving 643 adult patients hospitalized with pneumonia with positive cultures for S. pneumoniae from 2000 through 2013.

The researchers found that 22 percent of the patients were macrolide-resistant. Patients with macrolide resistance were less likely to have bacteremia, pulmonary complications, and shock, or to need noninvasive mechanical ventilation. For patients with macrolide-resistant S. pneumoniae pneumonia, there was no increase in the incidence of acute renal failure, the frequency of intensive care unit admission, the need for invasive ventilatory support, hospital length of stay, or 30-day mortality. Furthermore, outcomes were not affected by whether treatment regimens did or did not comply with current guidelines.

"We found no evidence suggesting that patients hospitalized for macrolide-resistant S. pneumoniae pneumonia were more severely ill on presentation or had worse clinical outcomes if they were treated with guideline-compliant versus non-compliant regimens," the authors write.