Effectiveness and duration of daptomycin therapy in resolving clinical symptoms in the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections

ABSTRACTObjective: Compare the rapidity of the resolution of clinical signs and symptoms of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs) caused by Gram-positive organisms between daptomycin and comparator agents.Patients and methods: A subset of South African patients with Gram-positive cSSSIs and no or one comorbid condition from two phase III clinical trials were included in the analysis. Patients were treated with daptomycin (n = 174) or comparator (penicillinase-resistant penicillins [n = 146] or vancomycin [n = 6]). The presence and severity of eight clinical signs and symptoms were evaluated at baseline, day 3 or 4 of treatment, end of therapy, and at test of cure (6–20 days after the last dose).Results: Of the 326 patients included in this analysis, the clinical success rates between daptomycin and comparator treatments was comparable. Overall, the severity of symptoms in the daptomycin-treated patients improved more quickly ( p = 0.04) than comparator treatment. At the day 3/4 evaluatio...