LAUSR

Introduction Ceftaroline is a new parenteral cephalosporin recently approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs). This is the first cephalosporin approved for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Ceftaroline, developed by modifying the structure of the fourth-generation cephalosporin, cefozopran, is the bioactive metabolite of ceftaroline fosamil, an N-phosphonoamino water-soluble cephalosporin prodrug, which is rapidly converted by plasma phosphatases to active ceftaroline. The compound has high affinity not only for PBP2a but also for PBP 1, 2 and 3 also for methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. Moreover, ceftaroline inhibits the activity of PBP2a more efficiently than other beta-lactams including imipenem. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro activity of ceftaroline compared with gentamicin, levofloxacin and ceftriaxone against various selected strains of MRSA and coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) clinical isolates.