Seminar Therapeutic 2: Ethics and risks in antibiotic prophylaxis

Abstract:

The rise of resistance in antibiotic therapy is of concern all over the world. Antibiotics are used in a way that this increase has not yet stopped. The use of antibiotics is therefore restricted or under guidelines in many hospitals. But this may be discussed as an ethical dilemma. This is because antibiotics are generally safe and perhaps very active in the single nowadays hospital patient. So we perhaps withdraw a very effective therapy from a patient and give him perhaps a therapy or prophylaxis which does not cover all bugs which could occur. And as we all know we do this because we also sense a responsibility for future, until now anonymous, patients who we feel have the right to get an effective therapy and should not suffer from an insufficient therapy due to increased resistance rates.

The seminar will give an overview about the spread of resistance all over the world and especially in Europe. Furthermore the seminar will point out methods and activities of hospitals and others to reduce the burden of resistance in hospital but also in ambulatory care. One of the measurements discussed will be the impact and activities around antibiotic stewardship.

Teaching Goals:

• inform participants how to create antibiotic policy guidelines and antibiotic committees to ensure  that antibiotic use in hospitals is rational
• learn what healthcare providers, including hospital pharmacists, can do to prevent antibiotics resistance
• discuss how the effectiveness of existing antibiotics can be preserved
• learn how to use antibiotics in peri-operative prophylaxis feedback from the European point prevalence studies on antibiotic usage

Learning Objectives:

After the presentation the participant should:

• know the impact of resistance in hospitals and in general in Europe and worldwide
• be able to discuss possible activities to reduce the burden of resistance
• be able to implement antibiotic stewardship measurements