Early appropriate empiric therapy and antimicrobial de-escalation

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Antimicrobial Resistance: Problem Pathogens and Clinical Countermeasures

Abstract

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics creates a therapeutic challenge to clinicians when treating patients with a known or suspected infection. Increasing rates of resistance lead many clinicians to empirically treat patients with multiple broadspectrum antibiotics, which can perpetuate the cycle of increasing resistance and create an economic burden to society (see Chapter 4). Conversely, inappropriate initial therapy, defined as a regimen that lacks in vitro activity against an isolated organism, can lead to treatment failures that have negative patient outcomes.

First Page

231

Last Page

250

Publication Date

1-1-2007

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