Monash UniversityAn international clinical trial involving Monash researchers - of more than 3600 patients in 74 hospitals - has shown that a traditional long course of antibiotics for bloodstream infection are not necessary. The results of the study - the largest ever randomised trial of bloodstream infection - are now published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It shows that treating adult patients hospitalised with sepsis due to bloodstream infection with a one-week short course of antibiotics is no different to a traditional two-week course. "Our aim was to determine if shorter or longer treatment durations had an impact on patient outcomes to help inform future treatment recommendations." The trial - called BALANCE (Bacteremia Antibiotic Length Actually Needed for Clinical Effectiveness) - included 3608 patients.
