A daily blood test helped doctors safely call time on antibiotics in sepsis

When someone is fighting sepsis, antibiotics are lifesaving — but keeping them going longer than needed fuels drug-resistant infections. In the NIHR-funded ADAPT-Sepsis trial, reported in the journal Anaesthesia, doctors who checked a daily blood marker called procalcitonin could consider stopping antibiotics earlier than with standard care guided by a different marker, CRP — safely. The trial, run with Manchester NHS trusts, is evidence that a simple daily measurement can help hospitals use fewer antibiotics in their sickest patients without putting them at risk: a quiet, system-wide win against antimicrobial resistance.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation