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A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship principles guide the clinical use of vancomycin, but paediatric vancomycin prescribing practices have not been evaluated in South Africa. Objectives: To document the use, prescribing practices and monitoring of intravenous vancomycin and the spectrum of bacteria...

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Main Author: Greybe, Leonore
Other Authors: Nuttall, James
Format: Thesis
Language:Eng
Published: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Greybe, Leonore
author2 Nuttall, James
author_browse Greybe, Leonore
Nuttall, James
author_facet Nuttall, James
Greybe, Leonore
author_sort Greybe, Leonore
collection Thesis
description Background: Antimicrobial stewardship principles guide the clinical use of vancomycin, but paediatric vancomycin prescribing practices have not been evaluated in South Africa. Objectives: To document the use, prescribing practices and monitoring of intravenous vancomycin and the spectrum of bacteria isolated on microbiological culture in children treated with intravenous vancomycin during a 12-month period at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH). Methods: A retrospective audit of intravenous vancomycin use in children admitted to RCWMCH during 2019. Results: All 158 vancomycin prescription episodes for 143 children were included. Overall usage of intravenous vancomycin was 63 days of therapy/1000 patient days (IQR 38–72). The median starting dose was 15 mg/kg/dose (IQR 14 ̶ 15) and median daily dose was 45 mg/kg/day (IQR 43–60). Vancomycin was prescribed as empiric (127/158, 80%) and directed (31/158, 20%) treatment. The median duration of treatment for the directed group was longer than the empiric group (p=0.001). Only 65/98 (66%) episodes where vancomycin treatment exceeded three days had vancomycin serum trough concentrations performed, and only 16/65 (25%) of these samples were obtained before the fourth dose. Prolonged antibiotic treatment of 14 days or more was not associated with gram positive bacteria on culture (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.17 ̶ 4.2). Conclusion: Prolonged empiric treatment and inappropriate vancomycin monitoring were problems associated with vancomycin prescriptions. Contribution: Our study identified multiple opportunities for improved vancomycin prescribing and monitoring. Further research and implementation of improved prescribing practices could contribute to the preservation of vancomycin as an effective antibiotic.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language Eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:54.720Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
publisherStr Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39453 A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town Greybe, Leonore Nuttall, James Eley Brian Paediatrics and Child Health Background: Antimicrobial stewardship principles guide the clinical use of vancomycin, but paediatric vancomycin prescribing practices have not been evaluated in South Africa. Objectives: To document the use, prescribing practices and monitoring of intravenous vancomycin and the spectrum of bacteria isolated on microbiological culture in children treated with intravenous vancomycin during a 12-month period at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH). Methods: A retrospective audit of intravenous vancomycin use in children admitted to RCWMCH during 2019. Results: All 158 vancomycin prescription episodes for 143 children were included. Overall usage of intravenous vancomycin was 63 days of therapy/1000 patient days (IQR 38–72). The median starting dose was 15 mg/kg/dose (IQR 14 ̶ 15) and median daily dose was 45 mg/kg/day (IQR 43–60). Vancomycin was prescribed as empiric (127/158, 80%) and directed (31/158, 20%) treatment. The median duration of treatment for the directed group was longer than the empiric group (p=0.001). Only 65/98 (66%) episodes where vancomycin treatment exceeded three days had vancomycin serum trough concentrations performed, and only 16/65 (25%) of these samples were obtained before the fourth dose. Prolonged antibiotic treatment of 14 days or more was not associated with gram positive bacteria on culture (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.17 ̶ 4.2). Conclusion: Prolonged empiric treatment and inappropriate vancomycin monitoring were problems associated with vancomycin prescriptions. Contribution: Our study identified multiple opportunities for improved vancomycin prescribing and monitoring. Further research and implementation of improved prescribing practices could contribute to the preservation of vancomycin as an effective antibiotic. 2024-04-25T12:33:42Z 2024-04-25T12:33:42Z 2023 2024-04-24T13:14:05Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39453 Eng application/pdf Department of Paediatrics and Child Health Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Paediatrics and Child Health
Greybe, Leonore
A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
title_full A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
title_fullStr A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
title_full_unstemmed A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
title_short A descriptive study of vancomycin usage at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
title_sort descriptive study of vancomycin usage at red cross war memorial children s hospital cape town
topic Paediatrics and Child Health
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39453
work_keys_str_mv AT greybeleonore adescriptivestudyofvancomycinusageatredcrosswarmemorialchildrenshospitalcapetown
AT greybeleonore descriptivestudyofvancomycinusageatredcrosswarmemorialchildrenshospitalcapetown