TREAT: a system for balancing antibiotic treatment against development of drug resistance

Introduction Covering antibiotic treatment, matching in-vitro susceptibilities of subsequently isolated pathogens, reduces overall fatality rate of severe infections with adjusted odds ratios varying between 1.6 and 6.9. [1] In the same studies, 20-50% of patients were given non-covering empirical antibiotic treatment. The construction of a system, TREAT, that could advice on antibiotic treatment, thus reducing non-covering treatments would therefore be advantageous, provided this can be done without major increases in the cost of antibiotics, in the rate of side-effects and in particular in future resistance due to excessive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics.