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A new study by researchers at Intermountain Healthcare found that the administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which work against a wide range of pathogenic bacteria, to treat patients with pneumonia often makes more harm than good.
The study, published in the European respiratory journal, have found that broad-spectrum antibiotics are often used in patients who do not need them, which can lead to side effects that can lead to complications and prolong hospital stays.
Contrary to popular belief, the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics when they are not needed not only does not improve the results, but is badociated with poor results in our study. "
Brandon J. Webb, MD, lead author of the study and infectious disease physician, Intermountain Healthcare
More than 250,000 people in the country are treated in emergency rooms every year due to pneumonia. Antibiotics play an important role in the treatment of pneumonia and target the most common bacteria that cause this infection. However, researchers discovered that using broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat pneumonia acted against drug-resistant bacteria that cause less frequent pneumonia, Dr. Webb said.
In this study, researchers identified 1,995 adults who visited four emergency rooms at Intermountain Healthcare hospitals with community-acquired pneumonia, which means they did not develop pneumonia during their stay in the hospital.
When the researchers looked at these patients, they found that those who received broad-spectrum antibiotics had longer hospital stays, higher cost of care, and higher rates of treatment. Clostridioides difficultinfection (commonly known asC. diff), a type of infectious diarrhea that is a side effect of antibiotics. They also identified antibiotic-related events in 17.5% of deceased patients.
Although antibiotics are powerful tools in the health sector, they carry some risks, Dr. Webb said.
"Antibiotics are not benign," noted Dr. Webb. "They have side effects like allergic reactions, anaphylaxis, disorientation and kidney damage, and all of this can help prevent patients from doing the same."
The researchers also examined whether broad-spectrum antibiotics were appropriately prescribed to patients and found that 39.7% of patients received them while only 3% had drug-resistant pathogens requiring antibiotic treatment.
Dr. Webb thinks the new study suggests that doctors who prescribe antibiotics should know the types of pathogens responsible for most cases of pneumonia in their area. In this way, they are less likely to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics to patients who do not need them.
Dr. Webb said that being precise in the administration of antibiotics could also fight the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. He suggested that doctors use risk factor profiles to identify the patients most likely to have an antibiotic-resistant strain, so you know exactly which antibiotic to use and which patients can benefit from it.
This concept is part of an international movement called "antibiotic management", which simply involves using the right antibiotic for the proper infection.
"These results argue in favor of wise management of the antibiotic resources available to us," Dr. Webb said.
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