Experience with fosfomycin for treatment of urinary tract infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Nov;56(11):5744-8. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00402-12. Epub 2012 Aug 27.

Abstract

Fosfomycin has shown promising in vitro activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) urinary pathogens; however, clinical data are lacking. We conducted a retrospective chart review to describe the microbiological and clinical outcomes of urinary tract infections (UTIs) with MDR pathogens treated with fosfomycin tromethamine. Charts for 41 hospitalized patients with a urine culture for an MDR pathogen who received fosfomycin tromethamine from 2006 to 2010 were reviewed. Forty-one patients had 44 urinary pathogens, including 13 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-Kp), 8 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 7 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) isolates, 7 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers, and 9 others. In vitro fosfomycin susceptibility was 86% (median MIC, 16 μg/ml; range, 0.25 to 1,024 μg/ml). Patients received an average of 2.9 fosfomycin doses per treatment course. The overall microbiological cure was 59%; failure was due to either relapse (24%) or reinfection UTI (17%). Microbiological cure rates by pathogen were 46% for CR-Kp, 38% for P. aeruginosa, 71% for VRE, 57% for ESBL producers, and 100% for others. Microbiological cure (n = 24) was compared to microbiological failure (n = 17). There were significantly more solid organ transplant recipients in the microbiological failure group (59% versus 21%; P = 0.02). None of the patients in the microbiological cure group had a ureteral stent, compared to 24% of patients within the microbiological failure group (P = 0.02). Fosfomycin demonstrated in vitro activity against UTIs due to MDR pathogens. For CR-KP, there was a divergence between in vitro susceptibility (92%) and microbiological cure (46%). Multiple confounding factors may have contributed to microbiological failures, and further data regarding the use of fosfomycin for UTIs due to MDR pathogens are needed.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Carbapenems / pharmacology
  • Carbapenems / therapeutic use
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial*
  • Enterococcus faecium / drug effects*
  • Enterococcus faecium / growth & development
  • Female
  • Fosfomycin / pharmacology
  • Fosfomycin / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae / drug effects*
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae / growth & development
  • Male
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Middle Aged
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / growth & development
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Urinary Tract Infections / drug therapy*
  • Urinary Tract Infections / microbiology
  • beta-Lactamases / metabolism

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Carbapenems
  • Fosfomycin
  • beta-Lactamases