Tag Archives: Antibiotic stewardship (community)
Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship – excellent UK toolkit released
In November 2016, a Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship: toolkit was released. It was developed in response to findings in the May 2016 Antimicrobial Resistance review by the Dental Subgroup of the English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR). It complements these existing standards: General Dental Council (GDC) standards/guidance and Care Quality Commission (CQC) Fundamental Standards.
Revisiting #SaveTheScript 2015 – short film meets AMS
In 2015 NPS MedicineWise partnered with Tropfest, to launch a short film competition to raise awareness about antibiotic resistance. Here are our picks of the 15 finalists– definitely worth a revisit! First prize – “The Pick Up” of the not-so lovely Ms Gonorrhoea! “Antibiotic man” “Pills“ The #savethescript judging panel included: Dr Andrew Rochford, Seven Network Health Editor […]
Be Medicinewise Week – Take Charge!
This year during Be Medicinewise week the National Prescribing Service (NPS) is encouraging clinicians to promote Australians taking charge of their health by being medicinewise, and raising awareness on the importance of having conversations about medicines. Be Medicinewise week (last week!) suggested clinicians ask patients to keep in mind 3 key pieces of advice to take control […]
Community Acquired Pneumonia – updated HNELHD Guideline
The updated Hunter New England guideline, Adult Community Acquired Pneumonia: Initial Investigation and Empiric Antibiotic Therapy has now been released. Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of hospital admission, carrying a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. Approximately 1/3 of patients require admission to hospital. Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the commonest pathogen ( see here for […]
Not in my backyard: whose problem is antimicrobial resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance has been identified as a problem that affects all parts of society. Resources from health organisations and governments are being set aside to combat this problem. One of the most important factors in improving antimicrobial prescribing is education of frontline clinicians. A systematic review of clinicians’ knowledge and beliefs about antibiotic resistance was […]
Appropriate use of azithromycin
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.
Australia releases first National Strategy to address Antimicrobial Resistance
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 […]
How long should we treat Intra-abdominal Infections for? RCT evidence
A recent randomised trial has shown that patients who receive fixed duration antibiotic therapy (approximately 4 days) had similar outcomes to patients who received longer courses (approximately 8 days). 518 patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections were recruited. Patients received either a fixed course of antibiotics or antibiotics until 2 days after the resolution of fever, leucocytosis […]
Infectious diseases 101
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 , […]
Antibiotic Prescribing for the Future: GP Registrar Attitudes to Antibiotic Prescribing
The majority of antibiotic prescriptions in Australia are written in primary care. Educational interventions have had limited success at improving prescribing practice. Primary care clinicians are in the difficult position of trying to balance best practice against patient satisfaction. A group of Australian GP registrars were involved in discussions to determine the barriers to appropriate […]
AIMED - Let's talk about antibiotics 