For patients with more severe disease,
amoxicillin (or another beta-lactam antibiotic)
may be combined with a macrolide.5
If MRSA infection is suspected, empiric
therapy with vancomycin should be started
(15 mg per kg intravenously every six hours).
Clindamycin (10 to 13 mg per kg orally or
intravenously every six to eight hours) may
be used if the patient is stable without bacteremia,
and if the local resistance rate to
clindamycin is less than 10 percent. Linezolid
(Zyvox) is another alternative (10 mg
per kg orally or intravenously every eight
hours in children younger than 12 years, or
600 mg orally or intravenously twice per day
in children 12 years and older).