Why is the antibiotic chloramphenacol not used to combat MRSA?
Plasmid-mediated immunity to antibiotics is how MRSA stays ahead of almost all antibiotics (with the exception of Vancomycin to date, but that’s changing as well). Chloramphenicol is a very nasty antimicrobial that can induce aplastic anemia if the dosages required to achieve MIC are high or if the drug is used for extended periods of time. The longer dosage schedule is ususally necessary with MRSA for any antibiotic. In addition there are better antibiotics with far fewer side effects. Bactrim is an inexpensive antibiotic with good effect against MRSA and without the the life-threatening side effects of Chloramphenicol. Chloramphenicol is just a poor choice of antibiotics – better alternatives exist.
