THE GOOD USAGE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN INTENSIV E THERAPY - IMPACT OF A PROGRAM FOR RATIONALIZATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS PRESCRIBING

Objective: To assess the impact of an antibiotic prescribing programme in a intensive therapy unit. Type of study: Prospective comparative s tudy. Methods: We compared antibiotic prescriptions and bacterial susc eptibility to antimicrobial agents before and after introduction of a programme focusing on injection control and therapeutic indications. R esults: The introduction of the programme resulted in a major decrease in antibiotic administration. Moreover, the susceptibility of Pseudom onas aeruginosa to ticarcillin increased from 40 to 68%, and susceptib ility of Staphylococcus aureus to methicillin increased from 55 to 73% . Conclusions: Antibiotic control policies must be considered integral to any effort to decrease resistance and cost of therapy with antibio tics. (C) 1998 Elsevier, Paris.