According to the results of the study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, every fifth hospitalized patient develops unwanted drug reactions (NLR) while taking antibiotics.
A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (USA) analyzed data from nearly 1,500 patients who received antibiotics for at least 24 hours from hospitalization between September 2013 and June 2014.Patients were examined for the development of antibiotic-associated NLRs such as gastrointestinal, dermatologic, musculoskeletal, hematologic, hepatobiliary, renal, cardiac and neurological responses within 30 days of onset of therapy and a Clostridium difficile-associated infection or multidrug-resistant infection within 90 days.
It is noted that the average age of patients was 59 years, more than half (51%) of participants are women. The average length of stay in the hospital was four days, the most commonly prescribed antibiotics were third generation cephalosporins, vancomycin for parenteral use and cefepime.
The results showed, that in 20% (298) patients there was a development of at least one antibiotic-associated NLR. The authors also found that 19% (297) of the patients received antibiotics that were not clinically indicated. Twenty percent (56) of these patients had NLR, including seven cases of Clostridium difficile-associated infection.
A total of 324 cases of development of NLR occurred, of which 186 (57%) occurred within 30 days of initiation of therapy, 138 - within 90 days.54 of 138 cases of NLR are Clostridium difficile-associated infection and 84 are multidrug-resistant infections. The most common NLRs that were developed within 30 days were gastrointestinal, renal and hematologic responses, which were 78 (42%), 45 (24%) and 28 (15%), respectively. Differences were also noted between the prevalence of NLP associated with specific antibiotics.
In addition, the researchers found that every additional ten days of antibiotic therapy increased the risk of developing NLR by 3%.
"Despite the fact that antibiotics can play a significant role in proper use, the results once again underscore the importance of their reasonable use to reduce the risk of developing antibiotic-associated NLR," the study's author noted. Pranita Tamma (Pranita D. Tamma).