CONCISE REVIEWS OF PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES Use of Vancomycin in Pediatrics

Vancomycin is a glycopeptide antibiotic, which acts on the bacterial cell wall. It was first used clinically in 1958. It is not well absorbed orally and is 80% to 90% excreted by the kidney. It’s absorption into tissues is variable and often poor, in part related to its relatively large size. Although it is a bactericidal antibiotic, it is generally less efficacious and bactericidal for a given organism than a corresponding beta-lactam to which the organism is susceptible. Its primary clinical utility thus lies in the treatment of infections with Gram positive organisms resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics (eg, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (M6RSA), coagulase-negative Staphylococci, penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae central nervous system infections, etc.).