Do not prescribe antibiotics to patients with suspected or confirmed mild and moderate disease with low suspicion of a bacterial infection, to avoid more short-term side effects of antibiotics in patients and negative long-term consequences of increased antimicrobial resistance. Decisions to administer antibiotics should be based on the likelihood of bacterial infection, illness severity, and antimicrobial stewardship issues. For suspected or confirmed severe cases based on clinical judgment, antimicrobials should be done as soon as possible (within 1 hour of initial assessment if possible), ideally with blood cultures obtained first. Antimicrobial therapy should be assessed daily for de-escalation.
SNOMED_CT Problem=191415002 (PB0050); SNOMED_CT Cat-Tar=409022004 (CG0003, TG0073)
