Stool Cultures and Antimicrobial Prescriptions Related to Infectious Diarrhea

• DOI: 10.1086/588142
• Publication Date: 2008-04-22T02:20:16Z
• Authors: L. Rand Carpenter; Stephen J. Pont; William O. Cooper; Marie R. Griffin; Judith A. Dudley; Patrick Arbogast; William Schaffner; Timothy F. Jones
• Keywords: Trimethoprim

Stool cultures can be important in guiding antimicrobial therapy for diarrhea. From among 11.64 million person-years of Tennessee Medicaid enrollment data collected from 1995 through 2004, 315,828 diarrheal episodes were identified. performed only 15,820 (5.0%). Antimicrobials prescribed 32,949 (10.4%), 89.4% which not accompanied by a stool culture. White race and urban residence associated with higher rates Frequent use antimicrobials diarrhea without culture may indicate inappropriate has critical implications public health.