Antimicrobials News

Debra A. Goff, PharmD, FCCP, recalled what inspired her and several colleagues to review guidelines on the use of antibiotics in dentistry for the prevention of endocarditis and prosthetic joint infections.

The administration of oral antifungal agents fluconazole and itraconazole during pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk for birth defects overall, but researchers did find that it was associated with a “possible” increased risk for specific birth defects, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. For example, according to researchers, children born to women who used oral fluconazole during pregnancy were at a slightly increased risk for heart and limb defects. 

The FDA recently announced the launch of CURE ID, an online repository where clinicians can report novel uses of existing drugs for difficult-to-treat infectious diseases. The program was developed in collaboration with the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Ontera and QuantuMDx announced that they will collaborate on a technology to quickly detect bloodstream infections and drug resistance, with an aim toward improving outcomes for patients with sepsis.

In this new bimonthly column, pediatric infectious disease specialists Asif Noor, MD, FAAP, and Ulka Kothari, MD, share valuable insight on antimicrobial stewardship in pediatric outpatient settings and explain why it is important for your practice. Antimicrobial stewardship programs, or ASPs, have become a crucial intervention to spare patients and facilities from the burden of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which are responsible for one death every 15 minutes, according to updated estimates from the CDC.  

While most U.S. hospitals have an antibiotic stewardship program, many smaller hospitals lack infectious disease expertise on their stewardship teams, and only about half of all hospitals use frontline workers in their programs, a nationwide survey showed.

A review of existing literature on the practices of antimicrobial stewardship programs, or ASPs, showed there are few streamlined recommendations for appropriate staffing, researchers said.

Health care-associated infections, or HAIs, related to the use of medical devices are more likely to be antibiotic resistant than those resulting from surgical procedures, with antimicrobial nonsusceptibility more common among adults than children, according to data from the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network.

A survey completed by 672 members of the Emerging Infections Network showed that infectious disease clinicians were “highly involved” in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy, or OPAT, but that only around one-third of respondents reported access to a dedicated OPAT program.

The University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging surveyed a national sample of U.S. adults about their opinions and experiences with antibiotics and found that nearly half expected antibiotic prescriptions at doctor visits and more than half have taken leftover antibiotics without talking to a health care professional.