A randomized, blinded, multicenter trial was conducted to compare fluconazole (800 mg per day) plus placebo with fluconazole plus amphotericin B (AmB) deoxycholate (0.7 mg/kg per day, with the placebo/AmB component given only for the first 5-6 days) as therapy for candidemia due to species other than Candida krusei in adults without neutropenia. A total of 219 patients met criteria for a modified intent-to-treat analysis. The groups were similar except that those who were treated with fluconazole plus placebo had a higher mean (+/- standard error) Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (16.8+/-0.6 vs. 15.0+/-0.7; P=.039). Success rates on study day 30 by Kaplan-Meier time-to-failure analysis were 57% for fluconazole plus placebo and 69% for fluconazole plus AmB (P=.08). Overall success rates were 56% (60 of 107 patients) and 69% (77 of 112 patients; P=.043), respectively; the bloodstream infection failed to clear in 17% and 6% of subjects, respectively (P=.02). In nonneutropenic subjects, the combination of fluconazole plus AmB was not antagonistic compared with fluconazole alone, and the combination trended toward improved success and more-rapid clearance from the bloodstream.

This pooled analysis includes 2 phase 3, double-blind trials designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tigecycline, versus that of imipenem-cilastatin, in 1642 adults with complicated intra-abdominal infections. Patients were randomized to receive either tigecycline (initial dose of 100 mg, followed by 50 mg intravenously every 12 h) or imipenem-cilastatin (500/500 mg intravenously every 6 h) for 5-14 days. The primary end point was the clinical response at the test-of-cure visit (12-42 days after therapy) in the co-primary end point microbiologically evaluable and microbiological modified intent-to-treat populations. For the microbiologically evaluable group, clinical cure rates were 86.1% (441/512) for tigecycline, versus 86.2% (442/513) for imipenem-cilastatin (95% confidence interval for the difference, -4.5% to 4.4%; P < .0001 for noninferiority). Clinical cure rates in the microbiological modified intent-to-treat population were 80.2% (506/631) for tigecycline, versus 81.5% (514/631) for imipenem-cilastatin (95% confidence interval for the difference, -5.8% to 3.2%; P < .0001 for noninferiority). Nausea (24.4% tigecycline, 19.0% imipenem-cilastatin [P = .01]), vomiting (19.2% tigecycline, 14.3% imipenem-cilastatin [P = .008]), and diarrhea (13.8% tigecycline, 13.2% imipenem-cilastatin [P = .719]) were the most frequently reported adverse events. This pooled analysis demonstrates that tigecycline was efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections.

Two phase 3, double-blind studies in hospitalized adults with complicated skin and skin-structure infections (cSSSI) determined the safety and efficacy of tigecycline versus that of vancomycin-aztreonam. Patients received tigecycline (100 mg, followed by 50 mg intravenously twice daily) or vancomycin (1 g intravenously twice daily) plus aztreonam (2 g intravenously twice daily) for up to 14 days. Populations were as follows: 1116 patients (566 treated with tigecycline, and 550 treated with vancomycin-aztreonam) constituted the modified intent-to-treat (mITT) population, 1057 patients (538 treated with tigecycline, and 519 treated with vancomycin-aztreonam) constituted the clinical mITT (c-mITT) population, and 833 patients (422 treated with tigecycline, and 411 treated with vancomycin-aztreonam) constituted the clinically evaluable population. Clinical responses to tigecycline and vancomycin-aztreonam at test-of-cure were similar: c-mITT, 79.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 76.1%-83.1%) versus 81.9% (95% CI, 78.3%-85.1%) (P = .4183); and clinically evaluable, 86.5% (95% CI, 82.9%-89.6%) versus 88.6% (95% CI, 85.1%-91.5%) (P = .4233). Adverse events were similar, with increased nausea and vomiting in the tigecycline group and increased rash and elevated hepatic aminotransferase levels in the vancomycin-aztreonam group. Tigecycline monotherapy is as safe and efficacious as the vancomycin-aztreonam combination in treating patients with cSSSI.

Post-influenza bacterial pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality associated with both seasonal and pandemic influenza virus illness. However, despite much interest in influenza and its complications in recent years, good clinical trial data to inform clinicians in their assessment of treatment options are scant. This paucity of evidence needs to be addressed urgently in order to improve guidance on the management of post-influenza bacterial pneumonia. The objectives of the current article are to evaluate the emergence of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and use this information as background for an in-depth review of the epidemiology of bacterial pneumonia complicating influenza, to review the bacterial pathogens most likely to be associated with post-influenza bacterial pneumonia, and to discuss treatment considerations in these patients. When determining optimal management approaches, both antiviral and antibacterial agents should be considered, and their selection should be based upon a clear understanding of how their mechanisms of action intervene in the pathogenesis of post-influenza acute bacterial pneumonia.

Clinicians caring for patients who are infected with HIV-1 and receiving HAART must be aware of this new and diverse clinical syndrome. As more HAART recipients are studied, new presentations will probably be observed.