SEMINAR 3: Infectious diseases – Antibiotic stewardship

Context:

In most hospitals the cost for antimicrobial agents are above 25% of the total drug budget. For years pharmacists have been involved in getting these costs under control, trying to provide a formulary with effective and safe antimicrobial agents, however, things are difficult in this field.

Resistance rates are emerging but are also different from country to country and also from hospital to hospital which has to be taken into account. Furthermore, one has to recognise that a single professional approach is not a sufficient one. Antibiotic stewardship is on the way to improving the management of infectious diseases, but what about the before mentioned resistance rates? Do we know what we have to know when we are going to the bedside?

This seminar will give information about resistance rates and how to improve antibiotic or better anti-infective stewardship with this information.

Teaching goals:

• to show tasks of an Antimicrobial Stewardship team
• to explain the goals of Antimicrobial Stewardship
• to explain the background of formulary decisions in the field of antimicrobial agents
• to discuss the decisions of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Group in front of the background of     resistance patterns in Europe

Learning objectives:

At the end of the seminar; participants should be able to:

• summarise the different situations of antimicrobial resistance all over Europe
• put a project for the invention of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Group into practice
• summarise the goals of Antimicrobial Stewardship
• define the benefits of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Group in terms of patient outcome