Vancomycin (Intravenous Route)

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Proper Use

Some medicines given by injection may sometimes be given at home to patients who do not need to be in the hospital for the full time of treatment. If you are receiving this medicine at home, make sure you clearly understand and carefully follow your doctor's instructions.

To help clear up your infection completely, vancomycin must be given for the full time of treatment, even if you begin to feel better after a few days. Also, this medicine works best when there is a constant amount in the blood. To help keep the amount constant, vancomycin must be given on a regular schedule.

Dosing

The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.

The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.

• For injection dosage form:
  • For treatment of bacterial infections:
    • Adults and teenagers—7.5 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight, or 500 mg, injected into a vein every six hours; or 15 mg per kg of body weight, or 1 gram, injected into a vein every twelve hours.
    • Children 1 month to 12 years of age—10 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight injected into a vein every six hours; or 20 mg per kg of body weight injected into a vein every twelve hours.
    • Infants 1 week to 1 month of age—15 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight injected into a vein at first, then 10 mg per kg of body weight injected into a vein every eight hours.
    • Newborns younger than 1 week of age—15 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight injected into a vein at first, then 10 mg per kg of body weight injected into a vein every twelve hours.

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