Severe sepsis is a major healthcare problem and the early initiation of antimicrobials is one of the few measures associated with improved outcomes. However, antibiotic overuse is an increasing problem in critical care. Of several potential biomarkers for antibiotic stewardship, procalcitonin represents the most widely studied and validated. In this commentary we address the current literature ...

Antimicrobial stewardship encompasses the optimization of agent selection, dose, and duration leading to the best clinical outcome in the treatment or prevention of infection. Ideally, these goals are met while producing the fewest side effects and lowest risk for subsequent resistance. The concept of antimicrobial stewardship can be directly applied to the prescription of empirical antibiotic ...

DeAnn Richards, RN, BSN, CIC, is a Project Specialist at MetaStar. This material was prepared by the Lake Superior Quality Innovation Network, under contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The materials do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 11SOW-WI-C310-17-6

BACKGROUND Technologies applied to mobile devices can be an important strategy in antibiotic stewardship programs. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a decision-making application on antibiotic prescription. METHODS This was an observational, analytical and longitudinal study on the implementation of an antimicrobial guide for mobile application. This study analy...

Evaluating the impact of antibiotic stewardship programs is challenging. There is evidence that they are effective in terms of reducing the consumption and cost of antibiotics, although establishing their impact on antimicrobial resistance (beyond restrictive policies in outbreaks caused by specific antimicrobial resistant organisms) and clinical outcomes is more difficult. Proper definitions o...

BACKGROUND An important requirement for an effective antibiotic stewardship program is the ability to measure appropriateness of antibiotic use. The aim of this study was to develop quality indicators (QIs) that can be used to measure appropriateness of antibiotic use in the treatment of all bacterial infections in hospitalized adult patients. METHODS A RAND-modified Delphi procedure was used...

The 27th ECCMID meeting, organized by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, convened in Vienna, Austria, from Apr 22 through 25, 2017. This event attracted more than 12,000 multidisciplinary international scientists, clinicians, and public health experts eager to learn about contemporary research, therapeutic approaches, and strategies in the battle against infe...

The rapid emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms in ICUs worldwide constitute a problem of crisis dimensions. The root causes of this problem are multifactorial, but the core issues are clear. The emergence of antibiotic resistance is highly correlated with selective pressure resulting from inappropriate use of these drugs. Appropriate antibiotic stewardship in IC...

The use of fluoroquinolones differs dramatically between adult and pediatric patients. For adults, they are the leading class of antibiotics prescribed in ambulatory care visits whereas in children, they are the least frequently prescribed class. The reasons for this difference in practice likely relate to perceptions of their potential for harm. This highlights the impact of physicians' percep...