Spread awareness, stop resistance – join the fight against antimicrobial resistance
November 18, 2021
Today is European antibiotic awareness day and start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) 18 to 24 November.
The week aims to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
The theme for WAAW 2021 is ‘Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance’
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the leading threats to human health and the practice of modern medicine. It is estimated that antimicrobial resistance could cause 10 million deaths a year by 2050. Increasing antibiotic resistance potentially threatens the safety and efficacy of surgical procedures and immunosuppressing chemotherapy leading to negative impact on patient outcomes such as prolonged morbidity, hospital stay, and increased risk of death.
The drug-resistant infections result from inappropriate prescribing and improper use of antibiotics mean that we’ve already seen a resurgence of infections which we had previous all but cured such as ESBL and Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) also other bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus/MRSA, are rapidly becoming resistant to not just one type of antibiotic, but several types, including those of a last resort. It means people are starting to die of minor injuries or infections which previously we could treat such as skin infections after routine surgery.
Antibiotics are not an everlasting panacea for all illnesses – they don’t ever work against viruses and using them inappropriately drives antibiotic resistance and results in drug resistant infections which can’t be treated.
Antibiotic resistance is a bit like climate change – it’s a massive world-wide problem, caused by multiple factors associated with modern life – from the way we produce our food such as giving animals antibiotics when they are not needed, to the way we manage our environment and our expectations about our own health and wellbeing.
Antibiotics in clinical practice
Health professionals are encouraged to ensure a timely review of antibiotic course length, empiric prescribing, intravenous-oral switch, and promotion of current clinical guidelines.
Antimicrobial stewardship
Antimicrobial stewardship is a key component in the reduction of healthcare associated infections and contributes to slowing the development of antimicrobial resistance. A Start Smart, then Focus approach is recommended for all antimicrobial prescriptions
| Start smart | Then focus |
| Do not start antibiotics in the absence of clinical evidence of bacterial infection
Take cultures before antibiotic administration Check allergy history Prescribe in line with SWB policies and guidelines Give first dose of antibiotic within 1 hour for severe/life-threatening infections Document indication for antibiotic in Unity Record duration of therapy (stop/review date) on the drug chart in Unity Consult the duty microbiologist when appropriate. |
At 48-72 hours review clinical diagnosis and continuing need for antimicrobials, and document clear plan of action in Unity. Please check culture and sensitivity results before starting antibiotics.
STOP antibiotics if no evidence of infection SWITCH from IV to oral therapy CHANGE antibiotics: de-escalate/substitute/add agents as per culture results CONTINUE and review again after a further 24 hours CONSIDER potential for Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy |
Antibiotic amnesty
As part of antimicrobial awareness week, we are promoting antibiotic amnesty aimed to encourage healthcare professionals to think about whether a patient really needs antibiotics. It also encourages people to return unused antibiotics and help combat antibiotic resistance.