By: James Pitt  Jun. 26, 2018

A June 4 Miami Herald investigation found that according to CMS data, Jackson Health System performed under the national benchmark on incidence of MRSA bloodstream infections, but at or above the national benchmark on five other types of infection. Dr. Lilian Abbo of Jackson Health attributed this to the case mix at Jackson Health and the high prevalence of MRSA in Miami-Dade County.

By: James Pitt  May. 04, 2018

A Dexur analysis examined 30-day readmission rates among Medicare inpatients discharged after surgery in Louisiana and found that most Louisiana hospitals had ABSSI-related 30-day readmission rates higher than the national average. The analysis was limited to hospitals with over 1,000 CMS inpatient discharges per year.

By: James Pitt  Apr. 19, 2018

Baxdela (delafloxacin), by Melinta Pharmaceuticals, is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic recently approved for treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). Dexur previously examined Baxdela’s potential for readmissions in Florida. Clinical trials in March 2018 and December 2017 found lower rates of treatment discontinuation with Baxdela than with vancomycin plus aztreonam. This is significant because initial treatment failure is common in serious skin infections. According to a 2011 retrospective study, initial antibiotic therapy failed in 22.4% of patients with ABSSSI.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Mar. 19, 2018

Baxdela, by Melinta Therapeutics, was recently approved by the FDA and has been launched to treat serious bacterial infections. Baxdela (delafloxacin) was approved for the treatment of adult patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) caused by gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. A common example of a gram-positive organism is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) while an example of a widely known gram-negative organism is Escherichia coli (E.coli). The options for treating ABSSSI have been limited but Baxdela was found to be effective in treating ABSSSI compared to the standard combined treatment of antibiotics vancomycin and aztreonam.