ABSTRACT

Microbiology is a medical specialty dealing with complex infections. Your main encounters as an F1 will be discussing patients with the on-call microbiologist to determine the most appropriate antibiotic therapy. Certain antibiotics also require a ‘code’ to be provided by microbiology before they can be prescribed. This comprises a series of numbers and letters which must be documented on the drug card. Before ringing micro, make sure you know the following:

Basic patient details.

Site of infection (pneumonia, UTI, etc.).

Antibiotic therapy so far.

Any allergies to antibiotics (make sure you know the type of reaction if possible).

Recent antibiotic courses.

Recent blood results – particularly white cell count (WCC) and inflammatory markers.

Any recent culture results.

Body temperature and observations (OBS).