Dalbavancin / Oritavancin / Telavancin

Is Dalbavancin / Oritavancin / Telavancin safe?

Trial and label safety data, boxed warning

Dalbavancin and oritavancin are generally well tolerated. Common complaints are nausea, headache and diarrhoea. A fast infusion can cause reactions like vancomycin's red-man syndrome. Oritavancin interferes with blood-clotting tests for days. It must not be used with heparin by vein for 120 hours after a dose. ²³

Telavancin carries boxed warnings. One is more deaths than with vancomycin. This was seen in pneumonia patients with moderate to severe pre-existing kidney impairment. Another is new or worsening kidney toxicity. The third is fetal harm in animal studies. So women who could be pregnant must be tested first. Telavancin also causes taste changes and foamy urine. Dalbavancin and oritavancin stay in the body a long time. So stopping the drug will not stop an adverse reaction. ⁴²³

For telavancin, the boxed warnings are kidney toxicity and extra deaths. The deaths were in pneumonia patients who already had kidney impairment. For oritavancin, the concerns are blood-clotting tests and heparin, for five days. For all of them, stopping a long-acting drug will not reverse a reaction. ⁴³²

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Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Dalbavancin / Oritavancin / Telavancin article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.