1997 GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS IN NEUTROPENIC PATIENTS WITH UNEXPLAINED FEVER

This is the first in a series of practice guidelines commissioned by t he Infectious Diseases Society of America through its Practice Guideli nes Committee. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide assistanc e to clinicians when making decisions on treating the conditions speci fied in each guideline, The targeted providers are internists, pediatr icians, and family practitioners, The targeted patients and setting fo r the fever and neutropenia guideline are hospitalized individuals wit h neutropenia secondary to cancer chemotherapy. Panel members represen ted experts in adult and pediatric infectious diseases and oncology, T he guidelines are evidence-based. A standard ranking system was used f or the strength of the recommendations and the quality of the evidence cited in the literature reviewed, The document has been subjected to external review by peer reviewers as well as by the Practice Guideline s Committee and was approved by the IDSA Council, An executive summary , algorithms, and tables highlight the major recommendations. The guid eline will be listed on the IDSA home page at http://www.idsociety.org .