Background Modification of empirical antimicrobials when warranted by culture results or
clinical signs is recommended to control antimicrobial overuse and resistance. We aimed to …

Background Several strategies to optimise the use of antibiotics have been developed. Most
of these interventions can be classified as educational or restrictive. Restrictive measures …

Inadequate antibiotic therapy, generally defined as microbiologically ineffective anti-infective
therapy against the causative pathogen, can influence patient outcome. However, the …

Inadequate antimicrobial treatment, generally defined as microbiological documentation of
an infection that is not being effectively treated, is an important factor in the emergence of …

Abstract Background Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) promote the principle of de-
escalation: moving from broad-to narrow-spectrum agents and stopping antibiotics when no …

Introduction Rapid bacterial identification and susceptibility tests can lead to earlier
microbiological diagnosis and pathogen-directed, appropriate therapy. We studied whether …

Background: Appropriate antibiotic treatment decreases mortality, while superfluous
treatment is associated with antibiotic resistance. We built a computerized decision support …

Managing serious infections is a balance between providing timely and appropriate broad-
spectrum empirical therapy for individual patients, which has been consistently shown to …

Background. Antimicrobial stewardship programs are increasingly implemented in hospital
care. They aim to simultaneously optimize outcomes for individual patients with infections …

Internal Medicine wards are an appropriate focus of antibiotic stewardship, along with
emergency departments and intensive care units, because a large proportion of patients are …