Lay off the grass: Texas football sees scary infections

Vancocin (the oral form of vancomycin) is used for the treatment of Clostridium difficile, a bacterial infection of the GI tract. This occurs when your body's normal gut flora are taken over by this bacteria, such as is seen in hospitalized patients on multiple antibiotics or immune-compromised patients. There is another approved oral antibiotic available for this infection and some talk of generics on the way. Unfortunately Vancocin can not be used for serious skin infections or respiratory tract infections caused by the bacteria MRSA which are often reported by the news media and lead to devastating effects, stronger intravenous antibiotics are needed (such as Vancomycin). While I do own stock in VPHM and have high hopes for the company it is not for any of the reasons this article improperly cited. IV drugs are almost always administered for serious infections because of the greater bio-availability they offer by not having to pass through the gut before reaching their target of interest. Conversely, oral Vancocin is important mostly for infections of the GI tract.

Zack, thanks so much for your post on ViroPharma. For the record, as of the end of the third quarter of 2007, ViroPharma had more than $500 million of cash/investments – a bit more than the $300 million that you reported. But beyond and more important than the numbers, we are very passionate about helping patients and healthcare professionals combat the growing threat of infectious superbugs. To add a bit more detail to Dan’s earlier response, hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) – infections people get simply from being hospitalized – are one of the most serious problems facing the U.S. health care system today. In American hospitals, HAIs account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths each year. One of the most common and dangerous HAIs is a bacterial infection called Clostridium difficile (C.diff) infection. Once contracted, C.diff infection has historically led rapidly to severe stomach symptoms as well as fever, loss of appetite, nausea, pseudomembraneous colitis, and in some cases sepsis and death.

Today, though, a highly toxic and far more dangerous strain of C.diff is spreading through hospitals throughout the United States. If infected, patients can die within just a few days. In hospitals across the nation, C.diff infection is doubling the average hospital bill, tripling the average length of stay and quadrupling the number of deaths. Sadly, for most hospitals infected by this dangerous strain, once the strain is there, it can not be eradicated by any standard method - so the focus becomes reducing the spread of this superbug as opposed to eliminating it.

And like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) – C.diff infection is now being contracted by healthy people outside of the hospital setting. One study found that nearly one in five people treated for C. difficile-associated diarrhea picked up the bacteria outside of the hospital.

In response to the C.diff infection epidemic, two leading infectious disease organizations – The Infectious Disease Society of America and The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America – have released draft guidelines for the treatment of C.diff infection. The final guidelines are set to be published in early 2008. The draft guidelines recommend ViroPharma’s drug Vancocin® as the first choice for the treatment of severe C.diff infection, which accounts for up to 60 percent of all cases. In a recent study of patients with severe C.diff infection, 97 percent of those treated with Vancocin were cured. We at ViroPharma are committed to continuing production of this lifesaving medicine.