Antimicrobials News

Implementing a CDC framework for outpatient stewardship reduced hospitalizations and antibiotic prescribing for uncomplicated acute upper respiratory tract infections at 10 sites, according to a recent study in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

I was always interested in infectious diseases, owing to the vast breadth of the field.

A survey investigating diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship practices showed that most institutions used rapid respiratory panels. However, stewardship practices incorporating those tests were uncommon, researchers said.

Patients with end-stage renal disease, or ESRD, receive significantly more antibiotics than patients without ESRD, according to a recent study based in New York state.

Surgical patients with a documented beta-lactam allergy were nine times less likely to receive the preferred first-line antibiotic cefazolin but more likely to receive riskier, alternative antibiotics, according to a recent study.

Virtual care for uncomplicated UTI was associated with more appropriate antimicrobial prescribing and a decrease in diagnostic testing and use of follow-up resources compared with in-person office visits, according to a recent study.

The duration of antibiotic treatment for diabetic foot osteomyelitis can safely and effectively be reduced from 6 to 3 weeks, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Asymptomatic Clostridioides difficile colonization is significantly associated with previous hospitalization, gastric acid suppression, tube feeding and corticosteroid use, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Antibiotic treatment was noninferior to appendectomy for appendicitis, according to the results of a pragmatic, nonblinded, noninferiority, randomized trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Although antimicrobial stewardship programs are well established in hospitals, they are not common in the outpatient setting, despite the fact that this is where the majority of antimicrobials are prescribed.