Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Does initial antibiotic choice affect survival in foals with sepsis
By Theelen, Mathijs J P et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2019·Utrecht University, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Initial antimicrobial treatment of foals with sepsis: Do our choices make a difference?
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A group of foals under 30 days old was diagnosed with sepsis, a serious infection, and treated with antibiotics. The study found that foals whose bacteria were sensitive to the initial antibiotic treatment had a higher chance of survival—about 65%—compared to only 42% for those with resistant bacteria. The combination of amikacin and ampicillin was shown to be an effective treatment for these young foals. This suggests that choosing the right antibiotics at the start can significantly impact recovery.
People also search for: foal sepsis treatment · antibiotics for foals · newborn horse infection care
Abstract
The study objectives were to provide cumulative antimicrobial susceptibility data at the patient level and to evaluate the effect of initial antimicrobial treatment on survival in foals with sepsis. Foals below 30days of age with a diagnosis of sepsis, confirmed by isolation of bacteria from normally sterile sites on the day of hospital admission, were included. Susceptibility testing was performed using the broth microdilution procedure. In total, 213 foals and 306 bacterial isolates were included. The likelihood of survival for foals from which all bacteria were susceptible to the initial antimicrobial treatment was 65.4% (n=106/162; 95% confidence interval (CI) 57.6% to 72.7%) versus 41.7% (n=10/24; 95% CI 22.1% to 63.4%) if one or more isolates were resistant (relative risk 1.57, 95% CI 0.96 to 3.06). Based on this study, amikacin combined with ampicillin remains an appropriate antimicrobial drug combination for initial treatment of foals with sepsis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30606442/