How to optimise duration of antibiotic treatment in patients with sepsis? BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 371: m4357.

Antibiotics represent the cornerstone of treatment. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) consensus guidelines recommend treatment for 7 to 10 days, but this is a weak recommendation. Use of antibiotics risks the emergence of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic-associated infections, such as Clostridiodes difficile. Patients may suffer from toxic effects of the drugs. Balancing the need to treat severe infections effectively against the risks of overuse of antibiotics is central to the principle of antibiotic stewardship. For severe covid-19, antibiotic stewardship remains important for critically ill patients with pneumonitis and sepsis who are commonly treated with broad spectrum antibiotics. Antibiotic overuse in sepsis results in substantial risk of acquiring difficult-to-treat infections, with further risk of sepsis and poor patient outcomes.The optimum duration of antibiotic treatment for patients with sepsis is uncertain. A biomarker-guided approach —for example, using serial measurements of procalcitonin to determine optimal duration of antibiotics—has been studied. Trials have evaluated fixed short periods of antibiotic treatment in patients with specific infections that can cause sepsis. It is uncertain whether any of these approaches ca n safely guide decisions in practice on the duration of antibiotic treatment for patients with sepsis.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news