OBJECTIVES To evaluate the current state of evidence for antimicrobial stewardship interventions in the critical care unit. METHODS We performed a systematic search of OVID MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane electronic databases from 1996-2010. Studies were included if they involved any experimental intervention to improve antimicrobial utilization in the critical care setting. RESULTS Thirty-eig...

Antibiotic overuse contributes to antibiotic resistance, which is a threat public health. stewardship practice dedicated prescribing antibiotics only when necessary and, are considered necessary, promoting use of the appropriate agent(s), dose, duration, and route therapy optimize clinical outcomes while minimizing unintended consequences use. Because there differences in common infectious cond...

care use and serious infection prevalence associated with penicillin " allergy " in hospitalized patients: a cohort study.ation of the impact of antibiotic stewardship on reducing the use of high-risk antibiotics and its effect on the incidence of Clostridium difficile infection in hospital settings. The impact of penicillin skin testing on clinical practice and anti-microbial stewardship. Shen...

There is a global crisis of antibiotic resistance in part because of the collateral damage of antibiotic use. Reduction in antibiotic consumption is clearly important to minimize this problem. Limiting treatment duration may be the most clinically palatable means of reducing antibiotic consumption. Antimicrobial stewardship programs play an important role in this process. Their effectiveness ma...

Clostridium difficile remains a major public health threat and continues to contribute to excess morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. Antimicrobial stewardship programs have demonstrated success in combating C. difficile, primarily through antibiotic restrictive strategies. As the incidence and prevalence of C. difficile associate disease continues to increase both in the hospital and com...

Introduction Antibiotic stewardship programs are multidisciplinary initiatives whose primary aim is to optimize antibiotic usage. Th e Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the Society for Health Care Epidemiology of America (SHEA) published guidelines for antimicrobial stewardship in 2007 aimed at providing information on how to establish such programs within health care institution...

Inappropriate antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance are now major global issues. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes are increasingly being used to optimize antibiotic prescribing in acute care. The central tenet of these programmes tends to be policy and guidelines aimed at prescribers. However, rules and guidelines alone may not be sufficient to bring about effective and sustainable optim...