Meropenum: A Second Line Antibiotic for Sepsis

In our practice in Belfast, Meropenum would be sort of a second or even probably a third line agent. It's the type of anti-biotic that if you prescribe it without consulting with the microbiologist on the ward around the next day,. You don't look him in the eye because you know he'll be disappointed that you've done it. So why go for Meropenum and not another beta lactam that would have the same sort of microbiology sort of theory behind it in terms of efficacy? When you decide to use an antibiotic, you have to strategy the empiric treatment and the culture space. All culture space strategy should be based on the less potent molecule that will