Response to Re: Association between timing and adequacy of antibiotics and adverse outcomes in patients with sepsis and septic shock : a multicentre retrospective cohort study

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the letter by Ito in reference to our original publication. Ito makes some valuable points regarding adjusting for severity of sepsis when assessing the timing of antibiotic administration. Our study analysis has already adjusted for sepsis severity, using modified sequential organ failure assessment (mSOFA) score, and explained in the Methods section. High SOFA scores were associated with worse patient outcome after adjusting for other relevant patient and clinical factors including timing and adequacy of antibiotics.