Antimicrobial therapy in patients hospitalized in a medical ward. A report from the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program.
The pattern of use of antimicrobial agents in 1,700 patients hospitalized in a medical ward at the Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, during 1969--72, is analyzed. Penicillins comprised 56%, tetracyclines 11%, streptomycin 9% and cephalosporins 3% of the total antimicrobial exposures. Ampicillin was given to 20% of the patient population. The use of tetracyclines and chloramphenicol fell steadily from 1969 to 1972. Fifty-five percent of the recipients of antimicrobial drugs received only one agent, 19% had concomitant therapy with several agents and the remainder received multiple antimicrobial drugs sequentially. One hundred and ten patients (6.5%) developed adverse reactions; the most common being rash and gastrointestinal reactions. Only two of the reactions were classified as causing major morbidity.
D000667:Ampicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004363:Drug Utilization; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D007239:Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D007557:Israel; D010406:Penicillins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014481:United States
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010406:Penicillins; D002701:Chloramphenicol; D000667:Ampicillin