ABSTRACT
Teicoplanin possesses several convenient properties for use in the delivery of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) services. However, its use is not widespread and data on its efficacy in the OPAT setting are limited. Here we present a case series of patients undergoing OPAT care being treated by either teicoplanin-based (n = 107) or ceftriaxone-based (n = 191) antibiotic regimens. Clinical failure with teicoplanin occurred in five episodes of care (4.7%) compared with only two episodes of ceftriaxone-based OPAT care (1.0%). Teicoplanin-associated clinical failure was observed in 2 (33.3%) of 6 patients with Enterococcus infections compared with 3 (3.0%) of 101 patients with non-Enterococcus infections. Overall, there were four (2.9%) drug-related adverse events for teicoplanin and four (1.8%) for ceftriaxone, prompting a switch to teicoplanin in three patients. These findings support the continued use of teicoplanin in OPAT as well as its consideration in centres where it is not currently being offered.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/administration & dosage , Teicoplanin/administration & dosage , Bacterial Infections/drug therapy , Ceftriaxone/administration & dosage , Ceftriaxone/adverse effects , Humans , Infusions, Parenteral , Outpatients , Teicoplanin/adverse effectsABSTRACT
Previous evidence suggested a significant variation in the testing algorithms used across the United Kingdom for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and new national guidelines were issued in 2012. The main aim of this paper was to explore if such variation in testing and reporting is still present, to compare the management of CDI cases, and to investigate if there is any significant variation in the antibiotic policies among different hospitals. Using London hospitals as a sample, results show that there is still a wide variation of testing methods and reporting used, making comparisons difficult. It is likely that the overall variability in practices would be greater at a national and, even more, at international level. The relationship between broad-spectrum antibiotics and C. difficile incidence and alternative approaches in antibiotic guidelines may require further studies.