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Volume 11, Number 10—October 2005
Research

Vancomycin and Home Health Care

Thomas G. Fraser*1, Valentina Stosor*, Qiong Wang†, Anne Allen‡, and Teresa R. Zembower*Comments to Author 
Author affiliations: *Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA; †University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, Illinois, USA; ‡Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Main Article

Table 5

Microbiologic investigations and results for home infusions of vancomycin*

Investigation or result Use per guidelines, no. (%), N = 180 Use outside guidelines, no. (%), N = 116 p value†
Microbiologic diagnostic attempt 173 (96.1) 90 (77.6) <0.001
Cultures by site
Blood 137 (76.1) 74 (63.8) 0.022
Sterile site 25 (13.9) 11 (9.5) 0.258
Urine 96 (53.3) 48 (41.4) 0.045
Sputum 17 (9.4) 6 (5.2) 0.180
Wound 96 (53.3) 45 (38.8) 0.015
Other culture 15 (8.3) 11 (9.5) 0.733
>1 culture 136 (75.6) 65 (56.0) <0.001
Bacterial isolates
MRSA 81 (45.0) 2 (1.7)‡ §
Coagulase-negative staphylococci 59 (32.8) 20 (17.2)
Ampicillin-resistant enterococci 3 (1.7) 0
Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus 16 (8.9) 19 (16.4)
Other streptococci and enterococci 52 (28.9) 18 (15.5)
Corynebacterium jeikeium 2 (1.1) 0
Culture considered contaminated 20 (11.1) 20 (17.2)

*MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
†Values <0.05 were considered significant.
‡The 2 patients outside the guidelines with an MRSA culture included 1 patient with MRSA in the urine but no diagnosis of a urinary tract infection, and 1 with a positive intravascular catheter tip culture but no evidence of infection.
§A p value is not included because infection with these isolates was 1 factor used to determine whether vancomycin was given per guidelines.

Main Article

1Current affiliation: Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Page created: February 22, 2012
Page updated: February 22, 2012
Page reviewed: February 22, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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