TO THE EDITOR—Infectious diseases specialists face a challenging era highlighted by multidrug-resistant pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. These issues have fueled increasing emphasis on antimicrobial stewardship [1, 2]. Essential in antimicrobial stewardship is the practice of appropriate antibiotic use and avoidance of unnecessary antimicrobial agents. One such example is the often unnec...

OBJECTIVE To discuss the implementation of an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme' as a means to improve the quality of antimicrobial use in a hospital setting in Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS Consensus working group on 'antimicrobial stewardship programme', The Scientific Committee on Infection Control, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, comprised 11 experts. The remit of the wor...

BACKGROUND The National Health Service England, Commissioning for Quality and Innovation for Antimicrobial Resistance (CQUIN AMR) aims to reduce the total antibiotic consumption and the use of certain broad-spectrum antibiotics in secondary care. However, robust baseline antibiotic use data are lacking for hospitalised children. In this study, we aim to describe, compare and explain the prescri...

OBJECTIVES To explore healthcare professionals' views of antibiotic prescribing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). To use the findings to recommend intervention strategies for antimicrobial stewardship in LTCFs. DESIGN Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted. The data were analysed by thematic content analysis. After the interviews, the emerging findings were mapped to the the...

689. Antibiotic Prescribing and Stewardship Opportunities within a Veterans Affairs Dental Care Practice Kimberly Y. Grady, DDS, MPH; Nathan Shively, MD; Cornelius J. Clancy, MD and Brooke K. Decker, MD, CIC; Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, School of Med...

240. Effectiveness of a Pharmacist Driven Antibiotic Stewardship Program at Two Critical Access Hospitals Using a Remote Infectious Diseases Pharmacist Emily Herstine, PharmD, BCPS; Scott Erickson, RPh, MBA; Sarah Leslie, PharmD, BCPS; Jessica Holt, PharmD, BCPS-ID; Pharmacy, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN; Pharmacy, River Falls Area Hospital, River Falls, WI; Pharmacy, New Ulm M...

689. Antibiotic Prescribing and Stewardship Opportunities within a Veterans Affairs Dental Care Practice Kimberly Y. Grady, DDS, MPH; Nathan Shively, MD; Cornelius J. Clancy, MD and Brooke K. Decker, MD, CIC; Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, School of Med...

689. Antibiotic Prescribing and Stewardship Opportunities within a Veterans Affairs Dental Care Practice Kimberly Y. Grady, DDS, MPH; Nathan Shively, MD; Cornelius J. Clancy, MD and Brooke K. Decker, MD, CIC; Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, School of Med...

The clinical utility of serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels continues to evolve. PCT is regarded as a promising candidate marker for making a diagnosis and antibiotic stewardship in patients with systemic infections. The aim of this review is to summarize the current evidence for PCT in different infections and clinical settings, and to discuss the reliability of this marker when used with validat...

at a Tertiary Care Hospital Michelle Science, MD, FRCPC; Adrienne Showler, MD; Lisa Burry, PharmD; Daniel Ricciuto, MD; Andrew Morris, MD, SM; Anupma Wadhwa, MD, FRCPC; The Antibiotic Stewardship Corridor; Pediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Lakeridge Hospital, Oshawa, ON, Canada; Hos...