A randomized, prospective study of pediatric patients with community-acquired pneumonia treated with ceftaroline versus ceftriaxone

Background: Community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) remains a major infection among children, despite the use of pneumococcal vaccination. Ceftaroline fosamil is a broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic with activity against many bacteria, including Streptococcus pneumoniae (both penicillin-nonsusceptible and multidrug-resistant strains) and Staphylococcus aureus (including methicillin-resistant S. aureus). This article describes the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of ceftaroline fosamil in the treatment of pediatric patients hospitalized with CABP, from a randomized, active-controlled, observer-blinded clinical study (registration number NCT01530763). Methods: Pediatric patients were stratified into 4 age cohorts and randomized (3:1) to receive either intravenous ceftaroline fosamil or ceftriaxone, with optional oral switch for a total treatment duration of 5-14 days. Enrollment was planned for 160 patients. Data collected included demographics, infection characteristics and pathogens. Treatment-emergent adverse events, clinical outcomes, and microbiologic responses were assessed. Results: Ceftaroline fosamil was well tolerated. Similar percentages of patients in the ceftaroline fosamil (55/121; 45%) and ceftriaxone (18/39; 46%) groups reported treatment-emergent adverse events. Coombs seroconversion was observed in 17% of patients in the ceftaroline fosamil group; however, no evidence of hemolytic anemia or hemolysis was found. No deaths were reported during the study. Ceftaroline fosamil had similar effectiveness to ceftriaxone, with high clinical cure rates at test-of-cure in the modified intent-to-treat population (94/107; 88% and 32/36; 89%, respectively). Three documented S. aureus infections were successfully treated in the ceftaroline group, including one caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that ceftaroline fosamil may be an important treatment option for pediatric patients hospitalized with CABP.