Abstract |
To assess the association between inclusion of a macrolide in a beta-lactam-based empirical antibiotic regimen and mortality among patients with bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia, 10 years of data from a database were analyzed. The total available set of putative prognostic factors was subjected to stepwise logistic regression, with in-hospital death as the dependent variable. Of the 409 patients analyzed, 238 (58%) received a beta-lactam plus a macrolide and 171 (42%) received a beta-lactam without a macrolide. Multivariate analysis revealed 4 variables to be independently associated with death: shock (P<.0001), age of >or=65 years (P=.02), infections with pathogens that have resistance to both penicillin and erythromycin (P=.04), and no inclusion of a macrolide in the initial antibiotic regimen (P=.03). For patients with bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia, not adding a macrolide to a beta-lactam-based initial antibiotic regimen is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality. However, only a randomized study can definitively determine whether this association is due to a real effect of macrolides.
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Authors | José A Martínez, Juan P Horcajada, Manuel Almela, Francesc Marco, Alex Soriano, Elisa García, Maria Angeles Marco, Antoni Torres, Josep Mensa |
Journal | Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
(Clin Infect Dis)
Vol. 36
Issue 4
Pg. 389-95
(Feb 15 2003)
ISSN: 1537-6591 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 12567294
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
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Chemical References |
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Macrolides
- beta-Lactams
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Topics |
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
(therapeutic use)
- Bacteremia
(drug therapy, mortality)
- Drug Therapy, Combination
- Female
- Follow-Up Studies
- Humans
- Macrolides
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Mortality
- Multivariate Analysis
- Pneumonia, Pneumococcal
(drug therapy, mortality)
- Retrospective Studies
- Treatment Outcome
- beta-Lactams
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