Improving our understanding of when and how to use antibiotics promotes health, fights the challenge of antimicrobial resistance, and helps ensure that antibiotics will be able to help generations to come. During U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, ADHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are among organizations sharing the message that antibiotics can [...]
November 12 - 18, 2018 is U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week. This annual week-long observance raises awareness of the threat of antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic prescribing. This week helps increase awareness of improving appropriate use of antibiotics in communities, in healthcare facilities, and even on the farm! Antibiotics save lives, and are [...]
Last Saturday our Healthcare-Associated Infections Program and Antimicrobial Stewardship Subcommittee members presented at the 2016 Arizona Pharmacy Association Annual Convention. Their presentation “A National Action Plan to Combat Antibiotic Resistance: Are You Prepared?” was attended by over 200 Arizona pharmacists. Discussions included: Global initiatives to improve the use of antibiotics, including programs in the United States Major elements of the White [...]
This week’s Vital Signs report shows that antibiotics are being overpowered by lethal germs called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or (CRE).These germs cause lethal infections in patients that get inpatient medical care in hospitals, long-term care facilities and nursing homes. In their normal forms, the germs- in the Enterobacteriaceae family (e.g. E. coli) are a normal part of our digestive system. However, some of them have [...]
Guess which organism killed 14,000 people last year- quadrupling in number in the last 10 years, and costing $1B extra in health care. Almost all the cases happen among people who recently received medical care. Ironically, antibiotics are making the problem worse, because when a person takes antibiotics, good germs that protect against infection are [...]
Each year in the US there are 1.7 million health care associated infections that cause approximately 99,000 deaths in US hospitals. There are lots of germs that can cause health care associated infections, but 16% are in the really bad category because they’re resistant to antibiotics. These multidrug-resistant organisms pose huge problems once they get [...]
