The Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship provides a framework for antibiotic stewardship for outpatient clinicians and facilities that routinely provide antibiotic treatment. This report augments existing guidance for other clinical settings. In 2014 and 2015, respectively, CDC released the Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs and the Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes. Antibiotic stewardship is the effort to measure and improve how antibiotics are prescribed by clinicians and used by patients. Improving antibiotic prescribing involves implementing effective strategies to modify prescribing practices to align them with evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and management. The four core elements of outpatient antibiotic stewardship are commitment, action for policy and practice, tracking and reporting, and education and expertise. Outpatient clinicians and facility leaders can commit to improving antibiotic prescribing and take action by implementing at least one policy or practice aimed at improving antibiotic prescribing practices. Clinicians and leaders of outpatient clinics and health care systems can track antibiotic prescribing practices and regularly report these data back to clinicians. Clinicians can provide educational resources to patients and families on appropriate antibiotic use. Finally, leaders of outpatient clinics and health systems can provide clinicians with education aimed at improving antibiotic prescribing and with access to persons with expertise in antibiotic stewardship. Establishing effective antibiotic stewardship interventions can protect patients and improve clinical outcomes in outpatient health care settings.

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/42418/cdc_42418_DS1.pdf

Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship.

Accurate estimates of the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are needed to establish the magnitude of this global threat in terms of both health and cost, and to paramaterise cost-effectiveness evaluations of interventions aiming to tackle the problem. This review aimed to establish the alternative methodologies used in estimating AMR burden in order to appraise the current evidence base. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, EconLit, PubMed and grey literature were searched. English language studies evaluating the impact of AMR (from any microbe) on patient, payer/provider and economic burden published between January 2013 and December 2015 were included. Independent screening of title/abstracts followed by full texts was performed using pre-specified criteria. A study quality score (from zero to one) was derived using Newcastle-Ottawa and Philips checklists. Extracted study data were used to compare study method and resulting burden estimate, according to perspective. Monetary costs were converted into 2013 USD. Out of 5187 unique retrievals, 214 studies were included. One hundred eighty-seven studies estimated patient health, 75 studies estimated payer/provider and 11 studies estimated economic burden. 64% of included studies were single centre. The majority of studies estimating patient or provider/payer burden used regression techniques. 48% of studies estimating mortality burden found a significant impact from resistance, excess healthcare system costs ranged from non-significance to $1 billion per year, whilst economic burden ranged from $21,832 per case to over $3 trillion in GDP loss. Median quality scores (interquartile range) for patient, payer/provider and economic burden studies were 0.67 (0.56-0.67), 0.56 (0.46-0.67) and 0.53 (0.44-0.60) respectively. This study highlights what methodological assumptions and biases can occur dependent on chosen outcome and perspective. Currently, there is considerable variability in burden estimates, which can lead in-turn to inaccurate intervention evaluations and poor policy/investment decisions. Future research should utilise the recommendations presented in this review. This systematic review is registered with PROSPERO (PROSPERO CRD42016037510
 ).

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Estimating the burden of antimicrobial resistance: a systematic literature review

Summary Background The control of Clostridium difficile infections is an international clinical challenge. The incidence of C difficile in England declined by roughly 80% after 2006, following the implementation of national control policies; we tested two hypotheses to investigate their role in this decline. First, if C difficile infection declines in England were driven by reductions in use of particular antibiotics, then incidence of C difficile infections caused by resistant isolates should decline faster than that caused by susceptible isolates across multiple genotypes. Second, if C difficile infection declines were driven by improvements in hospital infection control, then transmitted (secondary) cases should decline regardless of susceptibility. Methods Regional (Oxfordshire and Leeds, UK) and national data for the incidence of C difficile infections and antimicrobial prescribing data (1998–2014) were combined with whole genome sequences from 4045 national and international C difficile isolates. Genotype (multilocus sequence type) and fluoroquinolone susceptibility were determined from whole genome sequences. The incidence of C difficile infections caused by fluoroquinolone-resistant and fluoroquinolone-susceptible isolates was estimated with negative-binomial regression, overall and per genotype. Selection and transmission were investigated with phylogenetic analyses. Findings National fluoroquinolone and cephalosporin prescribing correlated highly with incidence of C difficile infections (cross-correlations >0·88), by contrast with total antibiotic prescribing (cross-correlations C difficile decline was driven by elimination of fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates (approximately 67% of Oxfordshire infections in September, 2006, falling to approximately 3% in February, 2013; annual incidence rate ratio 0·52, 95% CI 0·48–0·56 vs fluoroquinolone-susceptible isolates: 1·02, 0·97–1·08). C difficile infections caused by fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates declined in four distinct genotypes (p 0·2). Interpretation Restricting fluoroquinolone prescribing appears to explain the decline in incidence of C difficile infections, above other measures, in Oxfordshire and Leeds, England. Antimicrobial stewardship should be a central component of C difficile infection control programmes. Funding UK Clinical Research Collaboration (Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health Research); NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit on Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance (Oxford University in partnership with Public Health England [PHE]), and on Modelling Methodology (Imperial College, London in partnership with PHE); and the Health Innovation Challenge Fund.

Effects of control interventions on Clostridium difficile infection in England: an observational study

As antibiotic consumption grows, bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment. Antibiotic resistance undermines much of modern health care, which relies on access to effective antibiotics to prevent and treat infections associated with routine medical procedures. The resulting challenges have much in common with those posed by climate change, which economists have responded to with research that has informed and shaped public policy. Drawing on economic concepts such as externalities and the principal-agent relationship, we suggest how economics can help to solve the challenges arising from increasing resistance to antibiotics. We discuss solutions to the key economic issues, from incentivizing the development of effective new antibiotics to improving antibiotic stewardship through financial mechanisms and regulation.

Aura Andreason

Papers

English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) 2010 to 2014: report 2015