Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Adequacy of early empiric antibiotic treatment and survival in severe sepsis: experience from the MONARCS trial.
As part of the Monoclonal Anti-TNF: A Randomized Controlled Sepsis (MONARCS) trial, which enrolled patients with suspected sepsis, we sought to determine whether adequate antibiotic therapy was associated with a decreased mortality rate. The study enrolled 2634 patients, 91% of whom received adequate antibiotic therapy. The mortality rate among patients given adequate antibiotic treatment was 33%, versus 43% among patients given inadequate treatment (P<.001). We conclude that adequate antibiotic therapy results in a significant decrease in the crude mortality rate among patients suspected of sepsis.