Volume 71, Issue 10, October 2016

The authors found that, in the healthcare setting, as many as one in three carriers of ESBL and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae was still colonized after a year and that, although short-term decolonization treatment reduced carriage during therapy, its longer-term effect remained unclear.

The authors report that proton-pump inhibitor, amoxicillin and clarithromycin regimens were more effective for treating Helicobacter pylori infections than were those employing metronidazole, but giving the latter drug at a higher dose for 2 weeks may increase cure rates to 90% or more.

Despite a comprehensive search of the literature, the authors failed to find sufficient evidence for providing guidelines on amikacin dosing and therapeutic drug monitoring so, at least for the time being, these will have to be based on reviews of current practice, existing guidelines and expert opinion.