WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new study has looked at whether patients treated with the antibiotic cefepime have a higher risk of death than those treated with other similar antibiotics.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the study reviewed data from more than 100 clinical trials involving 22,608 patients. The researchers combined the results from different studies using a statistical method called a Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis.
Researchers found a 94.4% probability that cefepime was linked to higher odds of death compared with other ß-lactam antibiotics. Overall, 6.6% of patients who received cefepime died, compared with 6.2% of patients who received other antibiotics.
The possible risk appeared stronger when researchers looked only at 15,411 patients from published and peer-reviewed studies. In this group, there was a 98.6% probability that cefepime was linked to a higher risk of death. The number needed to harm fell to 111, meaning one additional death could occur for every 111 patients treated.
The highest possible risk was seen among patients being treated for febrile neutropenia, a condition in which patients have a fever and very low levels of infection-fighting white blood cells.
However, the researchers said the findings do not mean that cefepime should no longer be used. Instead, they said doctors and healthcare experts should consider the possible link between cefepime and higher mortality when deciding how the antibiotic should be used in clinical practice.
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