The amount of funding garnered by Pranita Tamma, director of the Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and Sara Cosgrove, director of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, to study how best to treat bloodstream infections caused by gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli. These potentially dangerous infections are most commonly seen in people with underlying chronic medical conditions.

“Traditionally, gram-negative bloodstream infections have been treated with intravenous [IV] antibiotics for the duration of a patient’s therapy — either in the hospital or with placement of a vascular catheter to continue treatment at home or a skilled nursing facility,” says Tamma. “However, because vascular catheters used to place IV lines can pose a risk of a secondary infection and other complications, and because IV therapy imposes limitations on patient mobility and quality of life, we want to see if oral antibiotic treatment — pills — given at an early stage in the process could achieve outcomes on par with those of IV antibiotics.”

The five-year award will support a randomized controlled clinical trial at eight U.S. hospitals involving a study population of approximately 1,200 patients.