This year, the NPS hosted a competition to develop short films about antibiotic resistance. The winners were announced earlier this year and can be viewed on the NPS YouTube channel – they are all well worth a look. Congratulations to the winner –
The HealthPathways site (based on a model from Christchurch, NZ) are used by our local General Practitioners and others to guide management of common syndromes and to provide guides to hospital-based services. MRSA and MDRO (multi-drug-resistant organism) pathways provide guidance in keeping with MDRO management recommended across Hunter New England Health District . The Recurrent Staphylococcal Infection pathway includes […]
Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic with broad-spectrum bacteriostatic activity against many Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It also has activity against Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Treponema pallidum, Chlamydia sp. and Mycobacterium avium complex. In addition azithromycin has immunomodulating effects and is used in chronic respiratory inflammatory diseases, including cystic fibrosis, as an anti-inflammatory.
Managing paediatric sepsis is difficult. Children require different drugs and doses and the typical pathogens vary across age groups. The team at the BMJ have put together a review of the management and treatment options for children, including neonates. Antibiotics are the only treatment of proven value in paediatric sepsis. Progression to organ failure and shock can be rapid […]
CRP is considered a better marker of the acute phase of the inflammatory process and can be used to assess response to therapy. Repeating the test more frequently than every 2-3 days is not indicated. There is also little rationale for performing both CRP and ESR when looking for indirect evidence of systemic or local site infection. […]
This week Health Minister, Susan Ley and Agriculture Minister, Barnaby Joyce released a statement regarding the publication of Australia’s first national strategy to address antimicrobial resistance. The strategy covers the next 4 years and aims to reduce Australia’s antimicrobial use to combat resistance. It is based on the WHO Global Action Plan for AMR. The […]
There is a long list that will vary according to your locale. Across Northern NSW, the important ones to consider include: Viral illnesses including influenza, adenovirus, viral hepatitis, parvovirus, EBV and CMV Rickettsial disease (spotted fevers, rarely murine typhus). See useful information page from NSW Health. Q Fever (Coxiella burnetti) (low platelets often, moderately abnormal […]
Some personal thoughts : Know well important bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Know your antibiotics and again, know a lot about the few that you will commonly use. Aminoglycoside and vancomycin dosing and administration require particular focus – Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic , […]
There are several strategies than can be used when doctors are reluctant to issue antibiotic prescriptions. You can ask patients to get back in touch is they don’t improve, post-date prescriptions, ask patients to come back and collect the prescription if they aren’t feeling better, write the prescription and ask the patient to delay using […]
Professor Lyn Gilbert started a discussion going with her recent MJA piece. Health and Wellbeing (ABC) took up the discussion with a further piece teasing out some of these issues- Antibiotics – when is enough enough? Full text below. The community discussion that followed on the ABC News Facebook page was very interesting and diverse! […]
AIMED - Let's talk about antibiotics 