Clinical failure of vancomycin treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infection in a tertiary care hospital in southern Brazil

We describe a case of clinical failure of vancomycin treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infection and the laboratory characteristics of the organism in a tertiary referral university hospital in southern Brazil. An 11-month-old male patient presented with pneumonia and S. aureus was isolated from his respiratory tract. Initial treatment with oxacillin and gentamicin was ineffective. Vancomycin was added to the regimen as the patient worsened, but after the 30th day of vancomycin treatment S. aureus was isolated from the blood. This isolate had a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for vanco...