title: Treating serious infections: focus on cefepime.
abstract: Antibiotic resistance among medically important pathogens is curtailing the therapeutic value of many of the standard broad-spectrum antibiotics used for empiric treatment of serious infections. This article presents a brief overview of the etiology of serious infections and the threat of emerging resistance, and reviews the adverse impact of inadequate empiric treatment on patient outcomes and hospital ecology. The treatment of two clinically important infections with cefepime--pneumonia in hospitalized patients and febrile neutropenia--also is discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wong-Beringer
mesh_terms: D000077723:Cefepime; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D002511:Cephalosporins; D000077723:Cefepime