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. 2025 May 15;12(6):ofaf298.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaf298. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Variability in Durations of Therapy for Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections and Factors Associated With Prolonged Durations

Jesse D Sutton  1 , Jae Hyoung Lee  2 , Karen Howard  3 , Katelyn S Quartuccio  4 , Christopher McCoy  5 , Alok Gupta  6 , Judianne C Slish  4 , Drew W Engers  7 , Anurag N Malani  7 , Sara M Karaba  8 , Kelly E Pillinger  9 , Pranita D Tamma  2 , Timothy C Jenkins  10   11
Affiliations

Variability in Durations of Therapy for Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections and Factors Associated With Prolonged Durations

Jesse D Sutton et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Data on treatment durations for gram-negative bloodstream infections in clinical practice are limited. In this study of 4240 gram-negative bloodstream infection episodes during 2019 from 24 US hospitals, the median duration of therapy was 12 days (IQR, 9-15); 59% were treated for >10 days. There was marked variability in treatment durations across hospitals.

Keywords: antimicrobial stewardship; antimicrobial treatment; duration of therapy; gram-negative bacteremia; gram-negative bloodstream infection.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Duration of antibiotic therapy by hospital. A, All episodes of GN-BSI. B, The subgroup of episodes of uncomplicated GN-BSI. C, The subgroup of episodes associated with immune compromise. Individual hospitals are represented on the x-axis. On the y-axis, the bold horizontal lines are the median duration; the boxes represent the IQR; and the vertical bars represent the range (outliers not displayed). Abbreviations: GN-BSI, gram-negative bloodstream infection; VA, Veterans Affairs.
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