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Quantitative Evaluation Of Antibiotic Exposure-Response Relationships Among Patients With Serious Staphylococcal Infections, Thomas Patrick Lodise

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation advances our understanding of antimicrobial exposure-response relationships among patients with serious infections due to Staphylococcus aureus. The need is pressing as treatment of this invasive pathogen has been complicated by the development of antibiotic resistance. One antibiotic resistant phenotype of particular concern is methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Due to the multi-drug resistant nature of most MRSA strains, vancomycin emerged as the cornerstone of therapy. Although widely used for serious MRSA infections, many clinicians now question its continued utility due to the emergence of MRSA strains with reduced vancomycin susceptibility phenotypes (rVSPs). The literature is developing rapidly, but characterization …