Careful management of antibiotics can reduce late-onset sepsis in preterm babies, reports Medscape.

The primary outcome was days of antibiotic therapy both for all and for select antimicrobials. Antibiotic use was already low before the study and fell by 14.7 days of antibiotic therapy per 1000 patient days, a difference that was not statistically significant (P = .669). Still, researchers showed a statistically significant reduction in ampicillin use, the most frequently prescribed antibiotic in that NICU. Its use fell significantly, decreasing by 22.5 days of antibiotic therapy per 1000 patient days (P = .037).

This was likely a result of “limiting the duration of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, eliminating the need for antibiotic prophylaxis after a single, uncomplicated urinary tract infection, and setting limitations for duration of treatment for [necrotizing enterocolitis] and early-onset clinical sepsis,” the authors write.

Read more at www.medscape.com