Abstract
Antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) implementation in humanitarian settings is a new endeavor. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières introduced an ASP within a hospital in Amman, Jordan, where patients from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen with chronic, often multidrug-resistant, infections related to war are managed. Antibiotics were reviewed, and real-time recommendations were made to optimize choice, dose, duration, and route by a small team. Over the first year of implementation, acceptance of the ASP's recommendations improved. When compared with the year prior to implementation, antibiotic cost in 2014 declined considerably from approximately $252,077 (average, $21,006/month) to <$159,948 ($13,329/month), and a reduction in use of broad-spectrum agents was observed. An ASP in a humanitarian surgical hospital proved acceptable and effective, reducing antibiotic expenditures and use of broad-spectrum agents.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1381-1384 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | American Journal of Infection Control |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2016 |
Keywords
- Antimicrobial stewardship
- antibiotic resistance
- bacterial infections
- chronic osteomyelitis
- developing countries
- low- and middle-income countries
- reconstructive surgery
- resource-limited settings
- trauma surgery
- war surgery
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Health Policy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Infectious Diseases