The pandemic caused by HIV is one of the fastest growing health problems in the world today. Given the limited resources available to healthcare systems in many of the most heavily affected countries, it is crucially important to know the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and acceptability of...

Febrile neutropenia is a condition that can develop in patients with cancer following the administration of myelosuppressive chemotherapy or radiation therapy. The current standard of patient management involves the empirical use of a combination of antibacterials or a single broad spectrum...

Neutropenic patients with cancer are at risk of serious infection, particularly if neutropenia is severe or prolonged. Because patients with neutropenia have a diminished inflammatory response, fever is sometimes the first, and only, sign of infection. Prompt empirical antibacterial therapy is...

Objective: Patients with cancer-associated neutropenia are at high risk of developing severe infections which can be fatal if treatment is not promptly administered. For this reason, fever is treated as soon as possible with broad spectrum antibacterial therapy. The objective of this study was...

Selective digestive decontamination (SDD) involves the use of antibiotics to enhance the colonisation resistance of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This eradicates the Gram-negative organisms and fungi, if antifungals are used, which colonise the GI tract and subsequently cause infections in...

As care for HIV/AIDS becomes more concentrated within specific providers and organisations, it would be useful to have indicators to describe the quality of care. This paper reviews concepts related to quality of care, and practical issues including sampling and risk adjustment. Indicators can...

Objective: To assess the relative cost effectiveness of cephalosporin monotherapy options and aminoglycoside/ureidopenicillin combination therapy for the treatment of febrile episodes in adult patients with neutropenia. Design and setting: This was a retrospective cost-effectiveness analysis...