Personalised antibiotics dosing to treat severe infections

Severe infections are a major cause of morbidity and death in Australia and worldwide. Together with containing the source of infection, rapid initiation of effective antibiotic therapy saves lives.

Beta-lactam antibiotics are among the most widely used class of antibiotics in the treatment of severe infections in Australian intensive care units (ICUs). Like many other drugs, dosing of these antibiotics in critically ill adults and children has primarily been based on data compiled in healthy volunteers, resulting in a ‘one dose fits all’ paradigm. Use of standard doses in these patient groups has been associated with significant risks, including treatment failure and the emergence of antibiotic resistant ‘superbugs’ if underdosed, and drug toxicity if overdosed.

This project investigates how personalised doses of antibiotics in critically ill patients can achieve target antibiotic blood concentrations more quickly, resulting in higher rate of treatment success and improving outcomes in patients that are at high risk of dying from these infections. Specifically, it will look at measuring antibiotic blood concentrations together with using software-guided dosing.  

The project team will test the accuracy and usability of currently available dosing software used to guide beta-lactam dosing, and a feasibility study will be conducted that further investigates the patient-centred benefits associated with software-guided, personalised dosing.

Project investigators

Project leaders engage with and draw on the expertise of partners within universities, research institutes, and hospital and health services around Queensland.

• Professor Jason Roberts, NHMRC Practitioner Fellow, Metro North Health, The University of Queensland (Lead)

• Dr Adam Irwin, Children’s Health Queensland, The University of Queensland

• Professor Jeffrey Lipman, Metro North Health, The University of Queensland

• Dr Menino Cotta, The University of Queensland

• Associate Professor Peter Kruger, Metro South Health

• Associate Professor Luregn Schlapbach, Children’s Health Queensland

• Associate Professor Kiran Shekar, Metro North Health

• Associate Professor Tracy Comans, The University of Queensland 

• Professor David Paterson, The University of Queensland, Metro North Health

• Dr Patrick Harris, The University of Queensland, Pathology Queensland

• Dr Jacobus Ungerer, Pathology Queensland

• Dr Brett McWhinney, Pathology Queensland