Compare and contrast the mechanism of action (25% of marks), antimicrobial profile (25% of marks), pharmacokinetics (25% of marks) and adverse effects (25% of marks) of Flucloxacillin and Vancomycin.
The structure required to score well was provide by the questions asked. Marks were lost by
not mentioning that flucloxacillin is a beta lactam that it does not cover MRSA and that
vancomycin covers enterococcus. Better answers could identify that vancomycin is slower at
killing sensitive staph than flucloxacillin. Adverse effects were specifically asked for in the
question so omitting facts such as associated nausea/vomiting/diarrhoea/anaphylaxis etc. cost
some candidates marks. If 25% of marks are allocated to side effects then it is expected more
than one adverse effect would be mentioned. Some candidates had incorrect facts -
Enterococcus is not a gram negative organism.