The Clinical Infection Research Group (CIRG) in Edinburgh is delighted to announce that the SNAP study (Staphylococcus Aureus Network Adaptive Platform), a landmark international clinical trial, has identified the optimal antibiotics for Staphylococcus (staph) Aureus bloodstream infection, a breakthrough that will change treatment for this life-threatening condition.

The study includes sites from 8 countries globally with the potential to expand to other regions. Within the UK, 22 sites have joined the study, with Edinburgh as the only site in Scotland, enrolling significant numbers of patients suffering from this infection.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is a leading cause of deadly blood infection, linked to more than a million deaths each year. The SNAP trial, funded in the UK by the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) found that a little used antibiotic, cefazolin, is as effective as and safer than the current UK standard therapy, flucloxacillin, for treating the condition.

The team also found that a commonly used antibiotic, penicillin, can be used when the staph is treatable with this in the laboratory. And that similarly this is probably as effective as flucloxacillin, and safer.

Dr Rebecca Sutherland, Principal Investigator for SNAP in Edinburgh said: “The SNAP study is helping optimise treatment of serious bloodstream infections. With over 6,000 patients recruited globally, results are already improving clinical practice, while further questions remain about antibiotic combinations and treatment duration.”

.” Read more about the study in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet publications.