Blood cultures are a test sent from unwell patients with serious infections that are used to detect if bacteria are present in their blood. Blood taken from patients is taken to a laboratory where any bacteria that are present are grown, or ‘cultured’.
These blood cultures help find the cause of the infection and guide treatment. Gram-negative bacteria are a group of organisms that cause severe infections including sepsis and may be detected in blood cultures. Normally blood does not contain any bacteria, and so when these Gram-negative bacteria are found in the blood, they are usually considered important and in need of treatment with antibiotics.
Many doctors around the world routinely treat blood infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria with antibiotics through a drip for 3 days or more before switching to tablet antibiotics. In Oxfordshire, patients are often switched to tablet antibiotics much sooner. We want to investigate if this early switching to tablet antibiotics is safe and effective.