Early antibiotic treatment of severe sepsis

Posted: May 05, 2013

Categories: Research

Author: Sento Segarra

Infectious disease specialists have advocated the early use of highly active antibacterial antibiotics to reduce the number of deaths caused by severe sepsis in the scientific session entitled "Facing the dilemma of mortality and resistance in Gram-positive infections" organized by Novartis under XXIII European Congress of the European Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID). This disease, which is often confused with 'blood poisoning', is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world 4, which could be significantly reduced with the use of drugs active against Gram + from Time 0 in which active sepsis5 code.

Sepsis or sepsis is the body's response to infection, either extra-or hospital, more frequent due to the immune status of patients and increased invasive techniques, intravenous catheters, prostheses and implants intravasculares1, 6. It is a disease whose incidence increases 2% annually and that records 18 million cases per year worldwide. Only in Spain are detected daily one to two new cases of severe sepsis per 100,000 inhabitants. Has a mortality rate of 50% 2 in case of septic shock, being superior to that of prostate cancer, breast cancer and HIV / AIDS juntos3.

To reduce these numbers, Dr Alex Soriano, Infectious Diseases Unit of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, argued in his paper "Saving your patient: the importance of early treatment" the importance of early antibiotic therapy in the treatment of serious infections "to reduce mortality, length of hospitalization and possible relapse."

Although this is an increasingly common protocol, the usual tendency is to start with a classic less potent antibiotic and increase it if necessary. The consumption of antibiotics has been linked to the selection of resistant organisms, but for Dr. Soriano "the problem is not that you use a strong antibiotic from the beginning, but that the patient take for many days as necessary. The initiation of treatment should not be delayed unnecessarily and discontinued or adjusted according to the results of the microbiology laboratory. "

In your opinion, was suspected severe sepsis is better not to take risks, as it is in the patient's life threatening. "It is true that following this protocol is possible that people who do not need treatment so strong end up getting it but it does not pose a risk to the patient," said the doctor.

Area Director Integrated Hospital Care at Novartis, Begoña Gómez, highlights the importance of efforts devoted to R & D to address issues such as sepsis. "The health and quality of life of patients is our top concern, so that our work is focused on the development of drugs that allow us to care for and heal people, not forgetting to publicize the progress made in this regard between the medical community. " Sample this commitment, Novartis has held in the Congress of the symposium on ESCMID positive infections.

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Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) provides solutions for health care consistent with the needs of patients and societies. Focused exclusively to the area of healthcare, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, high quality generic drugs that help save cost, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, OTC; and Animal Health. Novartis is the only company that has achieved a leadership position in these areas. In 2012, the Group achieved net sales of 56,700 million USD and invested approximately U.S. $ 9,300 million (9,100 million excluding asset impairment depreciation and amortization) in R & D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the Novartis Group companies employ approximately 129,000 associates and operate in more than 140 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit the websites http://www.novartis.com y http://www.novartis.es.