Abstract

2018 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting / Anaheim, California / Poster # ADD

Background: Patients with penicillin allergies who require broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of sepsis often receive a carbapenem instead of a cephalosporin due to concerns of penicillin-cephalosporin cross-reactivity. • As rates of antibiotic resistance continue to increase, institutions should prioritize efforts to preserve the efficacy of carbapenems. • Reduction of carbapenem use in institutions has been shown to lower incidence rates of carbapenem-resistant organisms . • Cephalosporins have previously demonstrated low rates of cross-reactivity in penicillin allergic patients. • As of May 29th, 2018, updates to our institution’s sepsis order sets recommend the use of cefepime in place of piperacillin/tazobactam in patients with a non-severe penicillin allergy rather than a carbapenem. • An analysis of the results of these updates is warranted to identify areas of improvement that can further reduce carbapenem utilization.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

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