Impact of obesity on clinical outcomes of methicillin-susceptible <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> bloodstream infections

Obesity affects over one-third of U.S. adults and complicates the treatment of methicillin-susceptible <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MSSA) bloodstream infections (BSI). A study at the University of Florida Health Centers compared clinical outcomes between 233 obese and non-obese patients receiving cefazolin for MSSA BSI. No significant differences were found in clinical success (81.9% vs 82.7%), mortality (7.2% vs 5.3%), or adverse events (3.6% vs 3.3%). However, obese patients took longer to clear blood cultures (4.62 vs 4.01 days, <i>P</i> = 0.017).