Antimicrobial guidelines
Important Message:
Due to extreme covid pressures in the laboratory, NUH and SFH have temporarily suspended the community mycology (fungal) testing for skin/nail specimens.
Testing is currently unavailable for the investigation of dermatophyte infections,
if treatment is required then empirical choices in the APC guideline should be used
and treatment failures can be discussed with a microbiologist.
Useful information for sending samples and recent changes to sensitivity results, interpretation and implications for antibiotic dosing is available on these NUH sites:
https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/microbiology and https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/interpreting-sensitivity-results
Good Practice Recommendations for Use of Antibiotics Towards the End of Life can be found here.
The full PDF Antimicrobial guideline has been removed. Please use the search function on the APC website to quickly find a certain antimicrobial or condition.
- A. Table of contents (112 kb)
- B. Principles of treatment (168 kb)
- C. Bulletin antimicrobial update June 2022 (332 kb)
- MRSA infection control alerts and empirical antibiotic treatment (191 kb)
1. Upper Respiratory Tract Infections
- Acute sinusitis (234 kb)
- Chronic Bacterial Sinusitis (186 kb)
- Dental abscess (226 kb)
- Influenza (317 kb)
- Otitis Externa (276 kb)
- Otitis Media (512 kb)
- Pharyngitis / Sore Throat / Tonsillitis (218 kb)
2. Lower respiratory Tract Infections
- Acute Cough / Bronchitis (277 kb)
- Acute Exacerbation of COPD (536 kb)
- Bronchiectasis (611 kb)
- Community Acquired Pneumonia (73 kb)
- Tuberculosis (84 kb)
- Whooping Cough (29 kb)
3. Eye Infections
- Blepharitis (17 kb)
- Conjunctivitis (94 kb)
4. Meningitis
- Meningitis (review Oct 2023) (624 kb)
5. Urinary Tract Infections
- Acute Pyelonephritis in Adults (118 kb)
- Complicated UTI (100 kb)
- Lower UTI / Cystitis (120 kb)
- Quick Reference Guide for the Diagnosis of UTI (104 kb)
- UTI in children (264 kb)
- UTI in pregnancy (95 kb)
- UTI Prophylaxis (plus patient leaflet below) (685 kb)
- UTI Prophylaxis Patient Leaflet (436 kb)
6. Gastro-Intestinal Tract Infections
- Acute Diverticulitis (37 kb)
- Amoebiasis (99 kb)
- Clostridioides difficile (325 kb)
- Cryptosporidiosis (90 kb)
- Eradication of Helicobacter pylori (209 kb)
- Giardiasis (98 kb)
- Infectious Diarrhoea (107 kb)
- Oral Candidiasis (106 kb)
- Threadworms (92 kb)
- Traveller's Diarrhoea (199 kb)
7. Genital Tract Infections
- Acute and chronic Prostatitis (201 kb)
- Bacterial Vaginosis (71 kb)
- Chlamydia trachomatis (96 kb)
- Epididymitis +/- Orchitis (168 kb)
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae (111 kb)
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (99 kb)
- Trichomoniasis (104 kb)
- Vaginal Candidiasis (review Sept 2023) (608 kb)
- Vaginal Discharge in a Child (95 kb)
8. Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
- Acne (117 kb)
- Boils (118 kb)
- Cellulitis (180 kb)
- Crab Lice (108 kb)
- Cutaneous Candidiasis (91 kb)
- Dermatophyte Infection of the Proximal Finger or Toe Nail (117 kb)
- Dermatophyte Infection of the Scalp (188 kb)
- Dermatophyte Infection of the Skin (163 kb)
- Diabetic Foot Ulcers (32 kb)
- Eczema (474 kb)
- Head lice (242 kb)
- Herpes Simplex Virus (190 kb)
- Hidradenitis Suppurativa (95 kb)
- Human and Animal bite (161 kb)
- Impetigo (366 kb)
- Insect Bites and Stings (88 kb)
- Leg Ulcers and Pressure Sores (168 kb)
- Lyme disease (156 kb)
- Mastitis and breast abscess (109 kb)
- Mould Infections of the Nail (27 kb)
- MRSA (232 kb)
- Osteomyelitis (89 kb)
- Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) toxin producing S.aureus infection (152 kb)
- Pityriasis Versicolor (106 kb)
- Scabies (145 kb)
- Varicella Zoster / Chicken Pox / Herpes Zoster / Shingles (167 kb)
- Wound Infection (181 kb)
9. Splenectomised Patients and those with an afunctional Spleen
10. Appendices
- Appendix 1 Prescribing in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding (102 kb)
- Appendix 2 References and Guidelines (102 kb)
- Appendix 3 Consultees (124 kb)
- Appendix 4 Delayed Prescription Service (63 kb)
Antimicrobial Bulletin
Volume I
- Antimicrobial Bulletin Issue 1 (816 kb)
- Antimicrobial Bulletin Issue 2 (974 kb)
Volume II
- Antimicrobial Bulletin Issue 1 (525 kb)
- Antimicrobial Bulletin Issue 2 (332 kb)