Antibiotic

Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is a major public health issue. Bacterial diseases we used to successfully treat with antibiotics are re-emerging as serious threats, killing an estimated 700,000 people each year, a number that is predicted to reach 10 million by 2050. If the AMR challenge is not solved by then, the cost associated with it will run into an estimated $100 trillion dollar expenditure.

CMS recently issued a final rule that will change the way hospitals will get reimbursed for new antimicrobial therapies, potentially removing some barriers to their use.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, all ambulatory health care organizations accredited by the Joint Commission that regularly prescribe antimicrobial agents will be required to abide by newly established antimicrobial stewardship requirements.

Certain oral antibiotics are associated with increased risk for colon cancer, while others are linked with reduced rectal cancer risk, according to study results published in Gut.

An electronic medical record-driven antimicrobial stewardship program implemented in an Australian ICU was associated with high clinician compliance with recommendations and an improvement in the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions, researchers reported.

Researchers tested two core Infectious Diseases Society of America-recommended antimicrobial stewardship interventions at four community hospitals in North Carolina and found that one — post-prescription audit and review by a pharmacist after 72 hours of therapy — was feasible in facilities with limited resources and little to no antimicrobial stewardship expertise.

Antibiotics administered to treat Staphylococcus aureus appeared to inhibit disease activity among patients with advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, according to results of a prospective study published in Blood.

Researchers found a dose-dependent association between antibiotic use in infancy and the development of asthma in childhood, regardless of the type of antibiotic administered or the timing of the prescription, according to study results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The researchers reported that the odds of future asthma diagnoses increased with each additional antibiotic prescription.

Physicians were more likely to receive a five-star satisfaction rating on a direct-to-consumer, or DTC, telemedicine platform when they prescribed antibiotics for pediatric respiratory tract infections, or RTIs. Researchers noted that pediatricians were less likely to prescribe antibiotics than other clinicians, yet had higher satisfaction ratings.

Findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis showed that more than 16% of patients who acquired antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, or ARB, did not have any antimicrobial exposure, researchers reported.