Fig. 2

Estimation of the effect of the different empiric strategies on effective therapy rate and consumption of carbapenems, differentiated by a priori probability of bacteremia and compared to other strategies for selection of empiric therapy. Legend. NNTC = number of patients needed to treat with a carbapenem instead of cefuroxime/gentamicin to avoid mismatch of empiric therapy in one patient. C-2GC + AG = 2nd generation cephalosporin/aminoglycoside combination therapy. DRP = drug resistant pathogen(s) isolated from any body site: Vancomycin resistant enterococci, multi resistant Staphylococcus aureus, enterobacteriaceae with in vitro resistance to aminoglycosides, second and/or third generation cephalosporin’s (including ESBL positive Enterobacteriaceae) and/or quinolones, Pseudomonas aeruginosa with resistance to third generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides or quinolones.. Current clinical practice: 2GC + AG as standard therapy, escalation to a carbapenem according to judgment of treating physician. The percentages (91.2–99.0%) indicate the proportion of patients with bacteremia that would receive adequate treatment if the strategy was implemented. For example: if all patients were to be treated with a carbapenem, the overall rate of adequate therapy in patients with bacteremia would be 99.0%. In case of an a priory risk of bacteremia of 10%, the corresponding NNTC is 128 patients