About one fourth of children younger than age 2 who are seen in US emergency departments (EDs) for bronchiolitis, a common viral lung infection in that age-group, received an antibiotic prescription, despite 2006 recommendations against the treatment in the absence of documented bacterial infection.
Researchers with Public Health England (PHE) report that a survey of England's National Health Service (NHS) hospitals found that the vast majority have made progress in establishing antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs), but many lack senior leadership and dedicated funding, and there was no significant correlation between stewardship scores and antimicrobial usage.
Antibiotic resistance in the United States appears to be more closely linked to occasional antibiotic use by many people rather than heavy use by few people, and resistance to certain antibiotics is higher in areas where they are used more often, according to a comprehensive study yesterday in eLife.
Data from three large health plans shows a substantial decline in outpatient antibiotic use in children from 2010 through 2014, according to a study today in Pediatrics.
Two articles yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases describe severe infections caused by highly virulent strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) sequence type (ST) 398, a clonal type that is usually associated with animals.
A study by researchers from the University of Michigan has found frequent co-colonization of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients in nursing facilities.
A study today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology reports that 23% of patients at an Oregon hospital were prescribed antibiotics upon discharge to a long-term care facility (LTCF).
A Swedish study has found that a hospital stewardship program that restricted cephalosporin use was tied to reduced rates of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).
A team of researchers from the United Kingdom report that Clostridioides difficile spores can survive on hospital sheets even after being washed with high-temperature water and industrial detergents, and that those spores could be contributing to outbreaks of C difficile infection (CDI) in hospitals.
A study yesterday in Pediatrics has found that, contrary to national guidelines, a portion of infants with uncomplicated, late-onset group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteremia are being treated with shortened intravenous (IV) antibiotic courses, with low rates of recurrence and treatment failure.
