International journal of antimicrobial agents
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Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents · Dec 2003
Audit of an antibiotic policy and microbiological investigations for treating bacteraemia in a large teaching hospital.
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.