Adjustment of antibiotic treatment according to the results of blood cultures leads to decreased antibiotic use and costs.

Introduction: To avoid the use of unnecessary broad-spectrum antibiotics, empirical therapy of bacteraemia should be adjusted according to the results of blood cultures.

Objectives: To investigate whether the results of blood cultures led to changes in antibiotic use and costs in a tertiary-care university hospital in Norway.

Methods: Medical records from all patients with positive blood cultures in 2001 were analysed retrospectively.

Comparison of immunofluorescence, Western blotting, and cross-adsorption assays for diagnosis of African tick bite fever.

In testing paired serum samples from 40 consecutive cases of African tick bite fever, we detected diagnostic antibodies against spotted fever group rickettsiae in 45% of the patients by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and in 100% of the patients by Western blotting (WB) (P < 0.01). A specific diagnosis of Rickettsia africae infection could be established in 15% of the patients by IFA and in 73% of the patients by a combination of WB and cross-adsorption assays (P < 0.

Repellent efficacy of DEET and KBR 3023 against Amblyomma hebraeum (Acari: Ixodidae).

The bont tick, Amblyomma hebraeum Koch, is the principal vector of Rickettsia africae, the agent of African tick bite fever, in southern Africa. In contrast to most other hard ticks, members of the genus Amblyomma exhibit a characteristic attack host-seeking behavior. The efficacy of topically applied 20% lotions of DEET (diethyl-3-methylbenzamide), the currently considered reference repellent substance, and KBR 3023, a recently developed piperidine compound, was evaluated against laboratory-reared A.

Impact of an antibiotic policy on antibiotic use in a paediatric department. Individual based follow-up shows that antibiotics were chosen according to diagnoses and bacterial findings.

Guidelines and clinical Cupertino for rational antibiotic use were implemented in a Norwegian paediatric department in 1994. From 1994 to 1998 the use of antibiotics and expenditures was reduced by 50%. There was an 80% decrease in the use of cloxacillin, a 74% decrease of aminoglycosides and a 59% decrease of cephalosporins.

Appropriate antibiotic use according to diagnoses and bacteriological findings: report of 12 point-prevalence studies on antibiotic use in a university hospital.

The objective of this study was to evaluate antibiotic use in relation to diagnoses and bacteriological findings in a 600-bed Norwegian university hospital. Twelve point-prevalence studies of antibiotic use were conducted between 1996 and 1999. In the point-prevalence studies, 1,096 of 6,588 adult patients (16.