A new single-dose antibiotic may soon be available to treat MRSA.

Typical treatments for bothersome skin infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) include antibiotics, which typically need to be taken twice per day for up to 10 days. But according to a study conducted by Duke Medicine researchers, a new single-dose antibiotic can be just as effective as a treatment.

The benefit of a single-dose antibiotic, called oritavancin, is to curtail antibiotic-resistance, which often occurs when patients stop short of completing their medication as soon as they start to feel better. Failure to finish the required dosage can result in bacteria becoming resistant to the medications designed to get rid of them.

After the clinical trials, the researchers found that one dose of oritavancin was just as effective at reducing the size of lesions and lowering fevers as vancomycin. Both of these drugs were also similar in their rates of needing a rescue antibiotic.

Lead author G. Ralph Corey, M.D., and colleagues analyzed the effects of oritavancin for three years, which involved two large clinical trials with almost 2,000 patients. The findings from the clinical trials will be presented to the FDA to be included as part of the drug’s approval application.

“The prolonged activity is what makes oritavancin distinctive. This drug has a long half-life, which allows for a single-dose treatment. Having a single-dose drug could potentially prevent hospitalizations or reduce the amount of time patients would spend in the hospital,” said Corey in a statement.

The findings of the study are published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).