Doctors conduct successful research into antibiotic resistance

Until now, the optimal duration of antibiotic treatment for patients suffering from bloodstream infections of gram-negative bacteria has not been known. In conjunction with colleagues at the university hospitals of Geneva and Lausanne, research doctors at the St.Gallen Cantonal Hospital have now proven that the current minimum duration of seven days is sufficient. According to a press release, this therefore limits the risk of antibiotic resistance.

For the purposes of the research project, a total of 504 patients with a common form of blood poisoning were divided into three groups. Each of these were treated for different lengths of time with a course of antibiotics. After 90 days, the number of those for whom the treatment was ineffective was roughly the same in each group. “The researchers were therefore able to show that there is no difference in the efficacy and safety of the three treatment groups”, the St.Gallen Cantonal Hospital writes in a press release.

Werner Albrich, author of the study and Senior Physician at the Clinic for Infectiology/Hospital Hygiene at the St.Gallen clinic, explains: “This result is exceptionally important for clinical practice. It allows the treatment duration for these infections to be reduced down to seven days or controlled on an individual basis, which could occasionally lead to even shorter treatment cycles. This study can therefore also contribute to minimizing the risk of the development of antibiotic resistance, one of the most important and increasingly prevalent medical issues around the world”.

The multicentric study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). The findings were published on June 2, 2020 in the reputable “Journal of the American Medical Association”.