The World Health Organization has identified antibiotic resistance in microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi, as one of the top 10 significant public health challenges confronting humanity.
What is Antimicrobial Resistance?
Microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi have the ability to develop resistance against antimicrobial drugs, rendering treatments ineffective in combating their presence and causing potential challenges in managing infections.
The resistance development in microorganisms leads to several adverse outcomes, including:
- Ineffectiveness of standard treatment, resulting in the progression and transmission of infections.
- The global dissemination of novel resistance mechanisms.
- Increased hospital costs and prolonged hospital stays due to heightened resilience.
The antibiotic stewardship program aims to achieve four primary objectives, encompassing:
- Enhancement of patient outcomes
- Ensuring patient safety
- Mitigation of antibiotic resistance
- Reduction of medical expenses
The hospital’s antibiotic stewardship program is managed by a multidisciplinary team that addresses the following concerns:
- Selection of the appropriate anti-inflammatory drug, considering the right timing, dosage, and frequency.
- Achieving optimal clinical outcomes in infection prevention and treatment.
- Minimizing toxicity to patients.
- Keeping other side effects, such as antibiotic resistance and C. difficile infection, to a minimum.
Antibiotic Stewardship Team at Intermed Hospital
