A cross-sectional, analytical study of antibiotic usage patterns at the Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies was conducted on consecutive admissions between July and December 2007. Areas for improvement identified included attention to appropriate prophylactic antibiotic use and duration of courses, and use of de-escalation.

Antibiotic use was retrospectively examined in appendicectomy cases in Antigua. Antibiotics were given for a mean of 5.39 days in 96.7% of cases. A distinction between inflammation, contamination and infection was not clearly made. Three or more antibiotics were given in 83% of cases. Use of antibiotics does not follow guide-lines from the Surgery Infection Society regarding prophylaxis for appendicectomy.