Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Should you get an ID consult on every patient with Staph aureus bacteremia?

From a new study:

Infectious diseases consultation was associated with a 56% reduction in 28-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.22-0.89).


I would not advocate for a rigid rule, but what this study and others with similar findings reflects is that in the treatment of Staph aureus bacteremia there are process issues and nuances in antibiotic treatment that are not well known among generalists.

1 comment:

Anthony Greco said...

Are you aware of any formal policies (institution-specific, guidelines-based, etc) that do suggest specific situations/cases/patients/infections where ID should be consulted? Working on a project about candidemia and am wondering when a hospitalist might get a consult for this infection, and if there are any specific guidelines that have been proposed for this.