Management of common infections Flashcards
What is antimicrobial stewardship
- Sensible antibiotic prescribing
Why is antimicrobial stewardship important
- Antibiotic resistance
- Antibiotic adverse effects
- Antibiotic costs and the costs of side effects
Why has antimicrobial resistance arisen
- Injudicious use of antibiotics in the hospitals, community and agriculture
- Inherent property of micro-organisms – promiscuous and inherent
- Understandable lack of investment for pharmacology
how many people suffer side effects due to antibiotic adverse reactions
- 20% of patients will suffer harm due to antibiotics
- Includes allergy, side effects C.diff etc
why do antibiotic side effects cost money
- Increased referral to secondary care
- Increased length of in secondary care
- Increased treatment and investigation cost
Delayed return to work
1 episode of C diff costs
- UK £3000
- France 7000 euros
- USA $34,000
How can you make change in prescribing antibiotics
1, be convinced to the importance of antibiotic resistance
2, be convinced that your responsible antibiotic use can contribute to controlling resistance
3, have the confidence, motivation and tools to use antibiotics responsibly
What are the principles of infection management
- Pus
- Agent, dose, route, duration
- Allergy
- Guidelines
What are the other things that can be like an infection
- Fever and elevated CRP infection – does not always mean infection, it can mean inflammation
- Pancreatitis
- Drug fever
- Malignancy
- Blood in the wrong place: thrombus or haemorrhage
when prescribing antibiotics what is it important to
- Decent samples – pus as opposed to swabs
- Colonisation and normal flora compared to infection and dangerous microorganisms
- Proper labelling of samples – is it from a sterile site, same bug may mean very different things
What does Ubi pus Ibi evacua
- Where there is pus let it out – if there is a big bag of pus antibiotics will find it difficult to penetrate into that absesce therefore you should let it out
- Also applies to a foreign body – remove it
- Or if there is non-viable tissue – debridge it
What are the downside of antibiotics
- have limited capacity to penetrate an abscess cavity
- Altered biochemistry within an abscess can inhibit antibiotic activity – pH and anaerobiasis
- Sheer number of bacteria
when deciding to prescribing an antibiotic the prescription should include…
- The right agent based on the suspected/prove indication and microorganisms
- At the right dose
- Right route
- And for the right length of time
What does the antibiotic prescription depend on
- Does the antibiotic get where it needs – for example does it cross the blood brain barrier
- Is there positive microbiology – no empirical, yes = directed
- How sick is the patient?
- Does the patient have any allergies or intolerances?
What does the right dose depend on
Infection factors
- Organisms
- Anatomical location
- Severity
Patient factors
- Age
- Pregnancy
- Renal function
- Liver function
- Other medicies and interactions
What is the right route
IV
- Ensure large doses that cannot be taken orally
- Ideal anti-infective only comes in IV form
- Patient GI route is compromised
What are the IV risks
- Usually related to the IV cannula
- Usually more expensive