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National Antibiotic Stewardship Week 11/18-11/24

Angie SzumlinskiNews

This week is National Antibiotic Stewardship Week. Antibiotics save lives and are critical tools for treating a number of common and more serious infections, like those that can lead to sepsis. However, at least 30% of the antibiotics in U.S. outpatient settings are prescribed unnecessarily. 

We’ve gathered some interesting posts and resources to bring awareness to antibiotic stewardship.:


The CDC recently published a report on the most serious threats to community health, what organisms they are and how they can impact everyone. A little background, antibiotic resistance is a major concern for healthcare providers in the United States and the CDC has expressed much concern about where we are and what to expect going forward. There are many microorganisms that are treated effectively with antibiotics however today there are also many that do not respond to treatment.

Per the report, the CDC states that without continued vigilance, germs will continue to spread, cause infections and harm/kill people. Addressing this threat requires:

  • Preventing infections in the first place
  • Slowing the development of resistance through improved antibiotic use
  • Stopping the spread of resistance when it does develop

This is National Antibiotic Stewardship Week! Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the CDC guidelines regarding antibiotic use, the current “threats” and ways to avoid fueling the resistance fire going forward!


The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently introduced a program to develop “Antibiotic Stewardship Toolkits” for acute care, long-term care and ambulatory care settings. The goal of these toolkits is to improve antibiotic use in all care settings by enhancing antibiotic stewardship programmatic activities and engaging frontline providers to incorporate stewardship into routine clinical practice using the Four Moments of Antibiotic Decision Making.

The acute care hospital toolkit is now available at https://ahrq.gov/antibiotic-use/index.html

The long-term care toolkit and ambulatory care toolkits will be introduced upon completion of the project and will include slides and scripts for presentations, videos, posters, pocket cards and more! Be sure to check back to the AHRQ website periodically to access the completed toolkit.


Be Antibiotics Aware is a national effort to help fight antibiotic resistance and improve antibiotic prescribing and use. Check out their website to learn more about improving antibiotic prescribing and use and combating antibiotic resistance.


The latest blog from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality talking about antibiotic use in hospitals. We all need to be aware of antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use, I highly recommend reading this blog.


Download an informational antibiotic fact sheet from the CDC.


The World Health Organization has an interesting informational website about Antibiotic Stewardship that allows you to customize your own informational poster or download an augmented reality app that brings to life the world of bacteria and antibiotics


Download our Soap vs. Alcohol flyer to clarify when to wash with soap and water and when to use alcohol


Download our infographic that provides prevention strategies that can be implemented to reduce the transmission of  MDRO and C. difficle.