Clinical experience of cefiderocol

Abstract

Infections by antibiotic-resistant microorganisms could be considered a “stealth pandemic” that we fight daily in most hospitals. Some estimates suggest that today 700,000 deaths per year can be attributed to antimicrobial resistance. By the year 2050, it is estimated that this will increase to ten million deaths per year as a result of infections by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. In this context, the availability of antimicrobi-al therapy that is effective against these pathogens is essential to be able to “save the lives” of our patients. Cefiderocol, a new cephalosporin with a different mechanism of action, will be an essential treatment in many infections caused by resistant aer-obic gram-negative bacteria. Cefiderocol has been used to treat patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI); hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), health-care-associated pneumonia (HAP); in patients with sepsis and bacteremia, some without an identified primary focus of in-fection. Cefiderocol is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by Gram-negative aerobes with limited therapeutic options [1]. It has been used to treat patients with complicated urinary tract infections; nosocomial pneumonia in the non-ventilated and associated with mechanical ventilation, healthcare associated pneumonia; in patients with bacteremia and sepsis and in other infections as rescue therapy [2-19]. In the following, we will review the clinical experience in the different types of infections in which it has been used.