Barriers to Intravenous Penicillin Use for Treatment of Nonmeningitis Pneumococcal Disease

DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01012-10

Article Figures & Data

TABLE 1.

Method of learning about new penicillin breakpoints for i.v. treatment of pneumococcal infections^a

Method of learning about new penicillin breakpoints	Current method		Preferred method
Method of learning about new penicillin breakpoints	No. of respondents	%	No. of respondents	%
Society newsletter	273	51.6	297	56.1
Microbiology laboratory report	138	26.1	183	34.6
A colleague	128	24.2	76	14.4
This survey first	95	18	0	0
CLSI document	69	13	176	33.3
National conference	46	8.7	106	20

TABLE 2.

Reported barriers to i.v. penicillin use for pneumococcal pneumonia treatment^a

Response^b	Infectious disease physician		Noninfectious disease physician^c
Response^b	No.	%	No.	%
No barriers	261	49.3	19	3.6
Frequent dosing	257	48.6	203	38.4
By the time susceptibility results are available, the patient has usually been switched to oral antibiotics	216	40.8	183	34.6
More convenient to maintain patients on empirical regimens recommended by the IDSA or hospital guidelines/formulary	96	18.1	247	46.7
Prefer not to change antibiotics if patient is improving on another i.v. antibiotic	90	17	341	64.5
Greater comfort with other antibiotics	59	11.2	154	29.1
Adverse events with i.v. penicillin	17	3.2	24	4.5
Susceptibility report confusing	10	1.9	220	41.6

↵ a Responses from infectious diseases physicians regarding their own practice and their perceptions of practices of other physicians.
↵ b Respondents were asked why they were unlikely to use i.v. penicillin to treat patients with pneumococcal pneumonia.
↵ c Based on responses by infectious disease physicians.