Author Archives: koh10
The post-antibiotic era: A case study
Published in the latest issue of the MJA is a case study of a Victorian patient diagnosed with a carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. The patient, from rural Victoria, had no history or recent overseas travel and no hospital contact for the last 15 years. He was transferred to a metropolitan hospital for intensive care for severe […]
Antibiotic Resistance: Facts and Figures
While we spend a lot of time talking about reducing antibiotic resistance it can difficult to get a feel for the size of the problem. The team at BioMerieux have put together some facts and figures that help quantify the problem.
What is the best way to treat skin abscess?
Skin (staphylococcal) abscesses (boils) are often treated with antimicrobials, but are they really needed? The New England Journal of Medicine recently presented a case vignette and asked prescribers to weigh in on whether they thought antibiotics were needed or if incision and drainage alone were enough.
Chocolate Agar for Easter
Chocolate agar is an enriched non specific growth medium which is used to grow and isolate pathogenic bacteria. Its also known as chocolate blood agar and is made using blood that has been slowly heated to 80 degrees. So probably not a great choice as a gift! Chocolate agar is a variant of blood agar […]
Cranberry for prevention and treatment of UTI- placebo or better?
Updated 25/1/24: Cochrane review was updated in Dec 2023 . “Authors’ conclusions: After a thorough search, no RCTs which assessed the effectiveness of cranberry juice for the treatment of UTIs were found. Therefore, at the present time, there is no good quality evidence to suggest that it is effective for the treatment of UTIs. ” Cranberry […]
Paranoia 101 – where is it safe to put your hand?
A recent experiment mapped the bacterial travellers on the New York Subway system and found that grabbing a handrail transmits the same number of bacteria as shaking hands with 10 000 people. An average of 2 million colony forming units were found per square inch, which for frequent travellers, equates to 900 times more than airplane […]
More Choosing Wisely recommendations released today
Choosing Wisely Australia is an organisation that aims to improve the quality of healthcare provided to Australians by urging healthcare providers to reconsider tests, procedures or treatments where the evidence suggests no benefit or may lead to harm in some cases. Today the organisation released 50 new recommendations from 12 new Australian professional bodies to […]
Antimicrobial prophylaxis for leech therapy
Leeches have been used throughout history for a variety of different medical indications. Over exploitation of medical leech species throughout the 19th century lead to the species becoming threatened. Today medical leeches are breed in special populations. Medicinal leech therapy is increasing in popularity to assist in wound healing where venous congestion is a problem. Leeches […]
Clinical Pharmacist led antimicrobial stewardship
Clinical pharmacists in all settings play important roles in antimicrobial stewardship. They are uniquely placed to provide medicines advice to both prescribers and patients, spreading the message of appropriate and safe antimicrobial use.
Do you care for patients with Cystic Fibrosis?
A new HNE LHD Guideline for antibiotic use in cystic fibrosis lung disease is now available.
AIMED - Let's talk about antibiotics 