The Senior care pharmacist
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Lefamulin is a novel systemic, semi-synthetic pleuromutilin class of antimicrobials that has been shown to be effective against common respiratory pathogens associated with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). CABP, a common infection among older people, leads to an increase in hospitalizations and mortality. Therefore, the use of lefamulin could be beneficial for CABP treatment in patients who are 65 years of age or older.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lefamulin for the treatment of CABP, which is available in both intravenous and oral formulations. ⋯ The clinical efficacy of lefamulin has demonstrated noninferiority to current standard-of-care for CABP, and patients, generally, have tolerated it well in clinical trials.
Lefamulin does not require dosage adjustment in renal impairment. However, the drug does requires dosage adjustment in severe hepatic impairment, based on Child-Pugh scores and clinical consideration in patients with severe hepatic impairment based on Child-Pugh scores. Though the benefit of adding lefamulin to a formulary is still in question; its potential to be a beneficial treatment for CABP is encouraging.