Linezolid for resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections in children under 12 years: A meta-analysis

Both linezolid and vancomycin have good efficacy in the treatment of resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of linezolid vs vancomycin for the treatment of resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections in children under 12 years. Five randomly controlled trials involving 638 children that were treated with linezolid and vancomycin for resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections were searched from medical databases. Meta-analysis showed that linezolid and vancomycin had equivalent efficacies in clinical cure rates in the intent-to-treat population (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88, 2.09) and microbiologically evaluable patients (95% CI: 0.46, 2.47). Linezolid and vancomycin also had equivalent pathogen eradication rates for Staphylococcus aureus (95% CI: 0.31, 4.81), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (95% CI: 0.36, 5.34), Enterococcus faecalis (95% CI: 0.32, 8.76), and coagulase-negative Staphylococci (95% CI: 0.43, 4.01). Vancomycin resulted in a higher incidence of alanine aminotransferase increase (95% CI: 0.37, 0.97), red man syndrome (95% CI: 0.01, 0.28), and rash (95% CI: 0.11, 0.73) than linezolid. Clinically, linezolid had a superior safety to vancomycin for resistant Gram-positive infections. Linezolid might be prescribed for the treatment of resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections in children under 12 years.