Tag Archives: antimicrobial resistance
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 […]
Sparing meropenem 101: what alternatives exist for the treatment of ESBL-producers?
Guest post: Patrick Harris, Staff Specialist in Microbiology, Central Laboratory, Pathology Queensland, Brisbane In a previous post we looked at bacteria that produce AmpC-type beta-lactamases, such as Enterobacter spp. Perhaps a more familiar, and increasingly common, problem is presented by species such as E. coli or K. pneumoniae, which have acquired extended-spectrum beta-lactamase enzymes (or ‘ESBLs’). […]
Antibiotic Resistance: Facts and Figures
While we spend a lot of time talking about reducing antibiotic resistance it can difficult to get a feel for the size of the problem. The team at BioMerieux have put together some facts and figures that help quantify the problem.
How did bacteria become resistant?
We all know that antibiotic resistance increases through improper use of antibiotics. With recent discoveries of bacteria containing antibiotic resistance genes in isolated tribes it would seem that bacteria have always been resistant- so why is it such a problem now?
What are cumulative antibiograms ?
Antibiograms summarise local antimicrobial susceptibility in order to guide appropriate antimicrobial prescribing. Ideally they are updated annually by microbiology services to provide a current picture of bacterial susceptibility and the local incidence of key sentinel resistant pathogens.
Reducing ESBL Gram negative fluoroquinolone resistance – what is the ecological sweet spot for usage?
This excellent recent paper from Sarma et al brings focus on what the target level of quinolone use should be in order to have an impact on quinolone resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. It describes the situation across a region of England (9 hospitals and other facilities) where quite stringent control of cephalosporin use was already in place […]
National Prescribing Service #savethescript winner announced- The Pick Up
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 –
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 […]
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 , […]
Do you really need to finish that antibiotic course?
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 