Tag Archives: pathology
What are cumulative antibiograms ?
Antibiograms summarise local antimicrobial susceptibility in order to guide appropriate antimicrobial prescribing. Ideally they are updated annually by microbiology services to provide a current picture of bacterial susceptibility and the local incidence of key sentinel resistant pathogens.
C-reactive protein or erythrocyte sedimentation rate?
CRP is considered a better marker of the acute phase of the inflammatory process and can be used to assess response to therapy. Repeating the test more frequently than every 2-3 days is not indicated. There is also little rationale for performing both CRP and ESR when looking for indirect evidence of systemic or local site infection. […]
Stewardship: It’s not just for antimicrobials
An important part of using antimicrobials appropriately is ordering the right pathology tests. Increasing workloads have been identified in pathology departments across Australia and pathology is a significant cost to the health system. While there is no Australian data it has been estimated that up to 25% of pathology ordered in the UK is either […]
AIMED - Let's talk about antibiotics 