Table 2.

Summary of antibiotic management of a 63-year-old aboriginal patient with infective gastroenteritis complicated by sepsis and organ failure

	Day of admission
	1	2	3	4	5
Antibiotic regimen		Piperacillin/tazobactam 4.5 g three times daily	Piperacillin/tazobactam 4.5 g three times daily	Piperacillin/tazobactam 2.25 g three times dailya	Piperacillin/tazobactam 2.25 g three times dailya
			Vancomycin 2.5-g loading dose then continuous infusion	Vancomycin continuous infusion	Vancomycin continuous infusionb
			Clindamycin 600 mg three times daily	Clindamycin 600 mg three times daily	Clindamycin 600 mg three times daily
				Meropenem 1 g three times daily	Meropenem 1 g three times dailyb

On day 2, blood cultures from day 1 were positive for Clostridium perfringens and Enterococcus avium sensitive to penicillin. On day 3, the patient was transferred from a rural district hospital to a tertiary center, and his condition deteriorated over the next 24 hours

^aRenally adjusted dose

^bDiscontinued on day 5 after specialist advice to de-escalate antibiotic regimen