Abstract
An audit of different approaches to guide empirical therapy in 78 cases of bacteraemia revealed poor utilisation of the antibiotic policy with resulting inadequate (P = 0.005) or excessive (P < 0.00001) antibiotic treatment and a trend to increased mortality. Eighty-seven percent of blood cultures were positive on Gram-stain within 24 h but streamlined therapy was still judged excessive in 27%. The results show poor utilisation of an up-to-date antibiotic policy but confirm its potential benefits and the ability of traditional culture methods to guide antibiotic therapy in a useful time-scale. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 618-621 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents |
Volume | 22 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2003 |
Keywords
- antibiotic policy
- bacteraemia
- microbiological investigations
- quality indicators
- POSITIVE BLOOD CULTURES
- CLINICAL IMPACT
- IDENTIFICATION
- RESISTANCE