Antimicrobial Stewardship

Antimicrobial stewardship is the policy and practices of a healthcare institution to optimise antimicrobial dose and duration to improve patient outcomes to:

• Minimise toxicity
• Ensure cost-effective therapy,↓ risks of antimicrobial use
• Minimise selection of resistant strains

Components of a stewardship program include:

• Treatment guidelines tailored to local antibiogram
• Multi-disciplinary involvement
  • ID physicians
  • Clinical microbiologists
  • Pharmacists
  • Infection control practitioners
• Protocolised treatment of sepsis
• Approval for broad-spectrum and later-generation antibiotics
• Designated stop dates
• Mechanism for audit

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References

1. Bersten, A. D., & Handy, J. M. (2018). Oh’s Intensive Care Manual. Elsevier Gezondheidszorg.