Evolution of bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics during a six-year period in a haematology unit.

A knowledge of the bacterial ecology of a haematology unit should help in the management of the febrile patient with or without neutropenia. We studied the prevalence and the susceptibility profiles of bacteria isolated during a six-year period among patients hospitalized in a 44-bed haematology unit. Antibiotic use over this period was also studied.

Maintenance of intragastric pH > 4 with famotidine in duodenal ulcer patients: factors influencing drug requirements.

The gastrojet, a closed loop pH feedback infusion pump capable of maintaining intragastric pH at a target value by infusing H2 blockers at variable rates, was used to assess factors influencing the quantity of famotidine required to maintain intragastric pH above 4 for 24 hours in 34 fed patients with duodenal ulcers. The following factors were considered: sex, age, duration of the disease, previous bleeding, previous poor response to H2 blockers (ulcer unhealed at six weeks, or recurrence within three months during maintenance treatment), activity of the ulcer disease, smoking habits, cirrhosis. The patients had taken no antisecretory drugs for the 15 days before the study.