Antibiotic stewardship - Rational use of antibiotics and antifungal agents

• Main Author: Meera Ramakrishnan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2015-01-01
• Series: Journal of Pediatric Critical Care
• Subjects: multidrug resistance; nosocomial infections; antibiotic stewardship. drug resistance; pediatrics; icu; infections
• Online Access: http://www.jpcc.org.in/article.asp?issn=2349-6592;year=2015;volume=2;issue=2;spage=50;epage=58;aulast=Ramakrishnan

Antibiotics remain the single biggest weapon that we have in our fight against infections. Sepsis continues to be one of the biggest problems faced by the critically ill children. They are either admitted to the ICU with a new infection or later in their course of illness, acquile an infection termed as nosocomial infection or a hospital acquired infection. There are not veiy many new antibiotics that are available to fight the bacterial infection. At the same time the microbes are rapidly developing resistance against antibiotics of all classes, seemingly winning this war against infections. Antibiotics are one class of dings that have the potential to affect the health of not only the patient but also of the entire society over a period of time. The rise of multidrug resistant organisms is a global phenomenon. It is imperative that we cherish and protect the dings with the goal of preserving them for generations to come. We may be able to do this by exercising Antibiotic stewardship. This refers to a set of coordinated strategies to improve the use of antimicrobial medications with the goal of enhancing patient health outcomes, reducing resistance to antibiotics and decreasing unnecessary costs. Antimicrobial stewardship is the responsibility of all physicians. We can each make a difference by exercising discipline in the management of patients. It is imperative that we tiy to protect the environment of appropriate handling of waste. Hand hygiene, appropriate isolation practices, terminal cleaning are all essential practices to reduce the spread of resistance organism. Selecting the right antimicrobial looks at various aspects of the patient and the drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. This article will examine this concept and antibiotic stewardship in general, that makes the difference between success and failure in the treatment of infections and spread of multidrug reistance.