Single-dose Antibiotics for Treatment of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections

Single-dose antibiotics offer opportunities to optimize care for select patients with skin and soft tissue infections. There are 2 long-acting lipoglycopeptides available in the United States, dalbavancin and oritavancin, which have broad gram-positive activity and significantly long-half lives, allowing for single-dose therapy. Both have been shown to be noninferior to standard of care antibiotics when administered as a single dose. These drugs can prevent patients from requiring hospitalization for intravenous antibiotics or expedite discharge for those already admitted. They also have a role in patients with barriers to succeeding with oral antibiotics due to adherence challenges or contraindications.