Search Tag: antimicrobial resistance
2024 02 Dec
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to global health, undermining the ability to treat infections and increasing the burden on healthcare systems worldwide. This challenge arises from the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials, particularly antibiotics, which accelerates the emergence of resistant pathogens. Antimicrobial...Read more
2024 18 Nov
The interconnected nature of human, animal and environmental health demands a comprehensive, strategic approach to tackling global health challenges such as zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance and climate change. These issues transcend borders and sectors, making isolated interventions ineffective. The European Health Management Association...Read more
2024 11 Nov
The United Kingdom is preparing to launch an innovative surveillance programme, the first of its kind globally, designed to detect and respond to emerging pandemics and other health threats. This real-time system will utilise cutting-edge genomics technology to track respiratory diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Through a partnership with...Read more
2024 03 Oct
In 2014, the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) predicted that AMR could lead to 10 million deaths by 2050, prompting global attention and commitments from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN). Despite these efforts, national action plans to combat AMR have seen uneven implementation and funding, leading to uncertain...Read more
2024 07 Jun
A novel antibacterial lipopeptide produced by the bacterium Serratia marcescens is highly effective in killing Staphylococcus aureus , one of the most significant pathogens in humans. Staphylococcus aureus is among the five most common causes of hospital-acquired infections, often leading to life-threatening infections following surgery....Read more
2024 04 Jun
In 2016, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gained unprecedented political attention at a UN high-level meeting. This gathering marked only the fourth occasion the UN convened to address a health issue, underscoring the severity of the AMR crisis. UN member states pledged to tackle AMR through a coordinated approach spanning human health, animal health,...Read more
2024 06 Feb
Healthcare's environmental sustainability has become a pressing concern, with hospitals, clinical services, and the pharmaceutical industry identified as key contributors to environmental impact. Hospitals, in particular, are responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, with the ICU being a significant consumer of resources like electricity,...Read more
2023 13 Oct
Ongoing research and challenges regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to leverage data and identify complex interactions to address antimicrobial resistance in the ICU. The possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI), and more specifically, machine learning (ML), are being researched across almost all domains...Read more
2023 24 Jan
In order to evaluate current progress and future planning to overcome antimicrobial resistance, it is important to understand strategic commitments and policy responses. The most important mechanism guiding national strategy and action for antimicrobial resistance governance is the national action plans (NAPs). Several NAPs have been developed, but...Read more
2022 14 Oct
The need to address the problem of antimicrobial resistance, the importance of faster diagnosis of bacterial infections and an overview of rapid diagnostic testing. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is rapidly increasing on a global scale. The discovery of penicillin revolutionised the field of medicine, providing safe harbour from the most...Read more
2022 14 Oct
This article reviews practices currently available to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance and novel therapies that are presently being developed. Introduction Among healthcare providers, and especially among those working with intensive care unit (ICU) patients, one of the greatest concerns that has emerged in recent decades has...Read more
2022 29 Aug
Researchers at Intermountain Healthcare have conducted a survey to identify and stratify antimicrobial stewardship programmes into four different groups to study the effectiveness of these models to best enhance patient care and reduce the rise of antibiotic resistance. The results are published in Clinical Infectious Diseases . Antimicrobial...Read more
2022 16 Mar
Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care unit. Nearly 14 million adults and 2.5 million children survive sepsis each year worldwide. In addition, sepsis survivors are known to experience poor long-term outcomes and often develop functional limitations thereafter. It is thus evident that the long-term impact...Read more
2022 16 Mar
ICU sepsis is associated with a mortality rate >25%, with nosocomial infection most lethal, and community acquired infection more common. Optimal management requires identification of the site of infection (lung, abdomen and blood stream most commonly), a focus on the likely pathogens based on risk factors for resistance, and provision of timely and...Read more
2020 14 Sep
Professor Michael Mansour is a physician-scientist with a research concentration in immune responses against invading pathogens. He attends on the Clinical Transplant Infectious Diseases and Immunocompromised Host Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital - Division of Infectious Diseases, where he cares for solid and stem cell transplant recipients...Read more
2019 01 Oct
Liesbet De Bus of Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, presented the findings of the DetermInants of Antimicrobial use aNd de-escalAtion (DIANA) study @ESICM #LIVES2019 in Berlin. Dr. De Bus started off by explaining the concept of de-escalation and how it is all about finding a balance between early adequate antimicrobial therapy on the one...Read more
2019 14 Mar
The intensive care unit has a unique environment, mainly because it treats severe and critically ill patients who require special care. Critical care patients often require high-risk surgeries, and there is also a frequent need for invasive devices such as central or peripheral venous catheters, urinary catheters or tracheal tubes, among others. This...Read more
2018 01 Jun
The interventional single-centre with historical control study was conducted in a 600-bed multidisciplinary hospital to evaluate 4 years’ results of an antimicrobial stewardship programme. We found a significant reduction in average duration of courses of antimicrobial therapy, length of stay of patients with infection in ICU, mortality in patients...Read more
2016 11 Oct
Guidance on empiric antimicrobial therapy for patents with intra-abdominal infections (IAI) has been drawn up by a task force from 79 countries, the Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections- AGORA project. The experts recommend timely effective source control with appropriate antimicrobial therapy...Read more
2015 14 Jun
A cutting-edge medical therapy has been developed by researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast that could protect patients against a lethal superbug. The treatment uses a molecule called an inhibitor and prevents the superbug Klebsiella pneumonia from blocking the body’s natural defences. Klebsiella has a mortality rate of 25 to 60 percent...Read more
2015 12 Jan
The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) has issued a call to policy-makers in the European Union to make 2015 a year of action with respect to the antimicrobial resistance challenge. The new policy statement published by 34 national member associations reminds policy makers of the opportunities available to them as well as highlights...Read more