Abstract

GRACA, Carina; CORREIA, Iuri  and  GONCALVES-PEREIRA, João. Infection at The End of Life: Is Antimicrobial Therapy of Benefit?. Medicina Interna [online]. 2019, vol.26, n.4, pp.66-70. ISSN 0872-671X.

Palliative care includes comprehensive strategies to optimize the quality of life for patients and families confronting terminal illness. Clinical manifestations and symptoms may be difficult to interpret. Although inflammation may prevail, the state of immunosenescence makes the infectious disease pauci-symptomatic and different from usual. Adynamia, fever, and cough, are often interpreted and medicated as infection. Besides, although infection is common at the end of life, it is often a marker of gravity and not the problem itself. Antibiotics, usually used in this context, may not serve the best interests of the patient and contribute to the development of resistant microorganisms, which has negative implications at the community level. In this article, we discuss the potential benefits and risks of antibiotic therapy in this population, which, in our opinion, should be included in the scope of palliative care.

Keywords : Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacterial Infections/drug therapy; Deprescriptions; Terminal Care; Terminally Ill.

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