A Systematic Scoping Review of Essential Methodological Elements for Developing a Tool to Improve the Reporting of Consensus Studies in Classification, Diagnostic Criteria, and Guidelines Development.

Introduction: A consensus is a general agreement among group members that is pivotal in gathering expert input for classification, diagnostic criteria, and guideline development. However, the absence of established methodological standards presents challenges in conducting and analyzing these studies.

Objective: This scoping review explored the evidence on essential elements in consensus studies to create a list of candidate items for a standardized reporting tool.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence and resistance of Gram-negative bacilli and antimicrobial consumption in the intensive care units of a referral hospital in Buenos Aires.

Background: There was a reported increase in the antimicrobial consumption in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, accompanied by an increase in infections due to multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria.

Methods: This retrospective time series study from intensive care units in Buenos Aires examined changes in antibiotic consumption (defined daily doses/1000 patients/day), the incidence of Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) and the mechanism of resistance. Antibiotics were categorised into group 1 (agents against MDR GNB) and group 2 (agents against non-MDR infections).