Use of chloramphenicol in a hospice.
Chloramphenicol has been the antibiotic of first choice at St Christopher's Hospice for over 20 years. Its use has been justified on the grounds of efficacy and tolerability in a patient group with a short prognosis in whom good symptom control is the priority. The sensitivities of hospice bacterial cultures to chloramphenicol and other antibiotics were recorded and were compared with the chloramphenicol sensitivities of cultures obtained from a series of hospital patients in the same area. Assessment of the occurrence of side effects attributed to chloramphenicol was made from hospice casenotes. Chloramphenicol was widely effective, but there was some evidence of the emergence of resistant strains, particularly of coliforms. Side effects were encountered less frequently than might have been expected from the use of popular alternative oral antibiotic drugs.
Sykes
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NP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006738:Hospices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002701:Chloramphenicol