Antibiotic use varies widely across intensive care units
BMJ 2003; 327 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7424.1128-g (Published 13 November 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:1128
- Roger Dobson
- Abergavenny
Big international differences in antibiotic use in hospital intensive care units have been found by researchers.
The researchers, who surveyed more than 200 intensive care units in 34 countries, say the results show that policies on optimal antibiotic prescribing for critically ill patients are urgently needed.
“We documented a wide variation in antibiotic prescribing practice for bacteraemia in intensive care unit patients that is too wide to fit the hypothesis that all observed approaches are appropriate,” said the authors of a report published online in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (www.jac.oupjournals.org), in advance of the print version.
They continued: “This survey …
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