European Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases experts promote use of antibiotic stewardship teams

In the face of continued evolution among infections and diseases, experts from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) is urging the development of plans and funding for antibiotics promotion.

The proposal, which had a lead author in Professor Céline Pulcini, secretary of ESCMID’s Study Group for Antimicrobial stewardshiP, was published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection. In the commentary, she and her fellow authors argued that hospitals and their larger communities are in need of antibiotic stewardship teams–essentially, groups of different specialists working together to improve diagnosis and treatment of infections.

“Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotic treatment and there is a growing realisation that we must do all we can to keep antibiotics effective,” the study said. “An important way to do this is to ensure that the right treatments are given to the right patients at the right dose and for the shortest possible duration. By giving antibiotics to those who need them most and, importantly, not giving them to those who will not benefit, we can help more patients now and in the future.”

While health workers operating individually are trying to do this, the report said, specialist knowledge would allow them to have the greatest impact. The great fear among experts is the ongoing rise of drug-resistant bacteria, which experts would help combat through both helping get the most out of existing treatments for infectious diseases and by guaranteeing new treatments are actually remaining effective. Their advice could aid health workers in prudent, monitored antibiotic use, track resistance and establish guidelines.

While the report noted that support for such teams is in the majority around the world, most countries either do not have them or are significantly understaffed. They also tend to be restricted to hospitals, even though hospitals are not where antibiotic prescriptions end.

To this end, the report calls for identification of an international minimum of antibiotic stewardship teams determined by population size, distributed among hospitals, nursing homes and community settings. It also urges global estimates of funding for basic antibiotic stewardship

“This will not come cheap but the cost pales into insignificance compared to the costs associated with developing new antimicrobial drugs, not to mention the human cost if we do not take action on antibiotic resistance,” the report said.