Ceftriaxone (a third generation cephalosporin-TGC) remains an overused agent in some of our (HNELHD) facilities. We aim to keep usage below 20 defined daily doses per 1000 patient-days (as is done at John Hunter Hospital for instance) to prevent adverse ecological impacts on resistance – increases in MRSA, VRE, multi-resistant Gram negatives and C. difficile are all associated […]
Dosing information for children, unlike adults, is often presented as a mg/kg range. So how do you choose what dose to use?This recent discussion from the BMJ has some important take home messages . Did you know that a child qualifies for an adult antibiotic dose usually by the time they weigh 40 kg? That […]
Updated 25/1/24 – C-reactive protein entry changed – CRP may not be normal An acute Charcot process within a neuropathic foot (often a diabetic patient) arises silently over some months and is often misdiagnosed as cellulitis due to the presence of skin warmth and redness. The process is usually unilateral.
What is the evidence? This interesting paper from 2010 discusses the natural history of UTI in women and distinguishes two conditions – the ‘urethral’ (or ‘dysuria/frequency’) syndrome’ (US) which affects a proportion of women with recurrent symptoms and many courses of treatment. It is known that US is a self-limited condition in a majority of patients. Some women are said to […]
Antibiotic Awareness Week runs from the 16-22th of November. It is a time for all hospital staff and patients to think about the importance of antibiotics and what a difference they have made to our lives. Antibiotic Awareness Week is an international initiative that is supported locally by the CEC. This years theme is “Preserve […]
The American Society for Microbiology has recently held their Agar Art competition. This competition involves agar plates painted with cultures to make beautiful works of art.
Studies of an indigenous tribe from the Amazon who had no previous contact with Europeans have shown you can!
There has been quite a tradition for including Gram negative anaerobic cover for patients suspected to have aspiration pneumonia. There are virtually no randomised trials that directly address the issue with nearly all such trials including agents that have Gram negative anaerobic cover across all treatment arms. One exception was a small trial from 1997 in a paediatric […]
The adult presented with 1 week of non-productive cough (yes, a good history was taken), and had no signs of sepsis other than fever. CRP moderately raised, CXR normal. The clinician documented a vague differential diagnosis and started ceftriaxone.
Scientists synthesise sound of single bacterium swimming – full story. Some mean machine! Dr Ashley Nord and Dr Matt Baker synthesised the sound of this whirring propeller when they attached microscopic polystyrene beads to the flagella of bacteria as part of their research into what makes them spin. The sound you can hear is perhaps more […]
AIMED - Let's talk about antibiotics 