Rapid Diagnostics and Appropriate Antibiotic Use

Rapid diagnostics and appropriate antibiotic use.

Most antibiotics are prescribed by physicians lacking postgraduate training in infectious diseases. As such, prescribing physicians have varying levels of interest and sophistication in thinking about how to use molecular and microbiological data to inform therapeutic choices. Strategies designed to modify physician antimicrobial-prescribing practices must therefore choose simplicity over compl...

ASP Strategies and Appropriate Antibiotic Use

Appropriate technology in tuberculosis diagnostics.

First, the statement that the use of the string test “will be hampered by the need for sputum induction” seems to be a misunderstanding: sputum induction added nothing to the results of the string test and was used only as a comparative test for this research. In fact, our findings clearly show that the string test alone offers better diagnostic sensitivity than sputum induction. By obviating t...

Strategies for appropriate antibiotic use in intensive care unit

The comsumption of antibiotics is high, mainly in intensive care units. Unfortunately, most are inappropriately used leading to increased multi-resistant bacteria. It is well known that initial empirical therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics reduce mortality rates. However the prolonged and irrational use of antimicrobials may also increase the risk of toxicity, drug interactions and diarrhea...

Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for acute pharyngitis in adults.

The following principles of appropriate antibiotic use for adults with acute pharyngitis apply to immunocompetent adults without complicated comorbid conditions, such as chronic lung or heart disease, and history of rheumatic fever. They do not apply during known outbreaks of group A streptococcus. 1. Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) is the causal agent in approximately 10% of adult...