Predictive value of prior colonization and antibiotic use for third-generation cephalosporin-resistant enterobacteriaceae bacteremia in patients with sepsis.

Background: To prevent inappropriate empiric antibiotic treatment in patients with bacteremia caused by third-generation cephalosporin (3GC)-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (3GC-R EB), Dutch guidelines recommend β-lactam and aminoglycoside combination therapy or carbapenem monotherapy in patients with prior 3GC-R EB colonization and/or recent cephalosporin or fluoroquinolone usage. Positive predictive values (PPVs) of these determinants are unknown.

Methods: We retrospectively studied patients with a clinical infection in whom blood cultures were obtained and empiric therapy with broad-spectrum β-lactams and/or aminoglycosides and/or fluoroquinolones was started.