Abstract: Abstract Objective: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on the efficacy and safety in children with MRSA infections treated with linezolid versus with vancomycin. Methods: The data were collected from the Medline database, and Chinese CNKI Database and the references of eligible studies were manually screened. Randomized controlled trials published in the English and Chinese literature comparing linezolid with vancomycin in children with MRSA infections were eligible for inclusion. Heterogeneity was examined by Chi-square test. Fixed effects model or random effects model were used to pool the data. Sensitivity analyses were used in the treatment course. Results: Three randomized controlled studies comparing linezolid with vancomycin were analyzed, focusing on the 588 children with MRSA infections. It was found by meta-analysis that, with respect to clinical treatment success, linezolid was as effective as vancomycin [89.72% vs. 85.71%, RR=1.05, 95% CI (0.98, 1.12), Z=1.49，P =0.14]. In the analysis with safety set, Significantly fewer linezolid-treated patients experienced drug-related adverse events than did vancomycin-treated patients [(0.17%vs. 0.40%,RR=0.49,95% CI (0.37,0. 65),Z=4.93，P <0.00001].Conclusion：Linezolid is as effective as vancomycin and more safety for treatment of patients with children infections caused by MRSA, although rigorously designed large sample size randomized double blind clinical trials are required to further demonstrate and support the conclusion.

Key words: Linezolid, Vancomycin, methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Meta-analysis