This article outlines recommendations for the treatment of specific infections occurring in the setting of critical care. In the interests of brevity, a limited number of infections are discussed and recommendations are largely confined to empirical therapy. Basic principles of diagnosis and treatment apply in all cases, including appropriate de-escalation when an organism is identified. These aspects of treatment have been dealt with in part one of this article – ‘Antibiotic prescribing in critical care: general principles' published in the winter 2007 edition of JICS.
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