Antimicrobial activity of dalbavancin against clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci from the USA and Europe stratified by species

Objectives To evaluate the in vitro activity of dalbavancin compared with vancomycin, daptomycin and other agents against a large collection of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolates. Methods A total of 5088 CoNS causing clinically significant infection were consecutively collected from 122 medical centres in the USA and Europe over 6 years (2014–2019). Isolates were tested for susceptibility by the reference broth microdilution method. Species identification was confirmed by MALDI-TOF. Most isolates were from bloodstream infections (BSIs) (53.5%) or skin/skin structure infections (28.5%). Results Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common species overall (54.6%) and for BSI (61.3%). The second most common species were Staphylococcus lugdunensis overall (12.3%) and Staphylococcus hominis for BSI (14.7%). Dalbavancin (MIC 50/90 , 0.03/0.06 mg/L) inhibited >99.9% of CoNS isolates at ≤0.25 mg/L (susceptible breakpoint for Staphylococcus aureus per CLSI). All species were inhibited at ≤0.25 mg/L dalbavancin, except some S. epidermidis (>99.9%) and Staphylococcus warneri (98.9%) isolates. Staphylococcus capitis and Staphylococcus simulans exhibited the lowest dalbavancin MIC 50/90 values (0.015/0.03 mg/L) and Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus the highest (MIC 50/90 , 0.06/0.12 mg/L); 47.8% of S. epidermidis and 34.7% of S. haemolyticus exhibited decreased susceptibility to vancomycin (MIC ≥ 2 mg/L) and 23.2% of S. capitis and 28.4% of S. warneri showed decreased susceptibility to daptomycin (MIC ≥ 1 mg/L). Conclusion Antimicrobial susceptibility varied widely among CoNS species. Dalbavancin inhibited >99.9% and 99.1% of isolates at the US-FDA and EUCAST breakpoints, respectively. Clinical studies of dalbavancin for treatment of CoNS infections should be considered based on these in vitro data.