Implementing antimicrobial stewardship: lessons and perspectives from a university-affiliated tertiary hospital in Korea.

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) can lower antibiotic use, decrease medical expenses, prevent the emergence of resistant bacteria, and enhance treatment for infectious diseases. This study summarizes the stepwise implementation and effects of ASPs in a single university-affiliated tertiary care hospital in Korea; it also presents future directions and challenges in resource-limited settings. At the study hospital, the core elements of the ASP such as leadership commitment, accountability, and operating system were established in 2000, then strengthened by the formation of the Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Team in 2018. The actions of ASPs entail key components including a computerized restrictive antibiotic prescription system, prospective audit, post-prescription review through quantitative and qualitative intervention, and pharmacy-based interventions to optimize antibiotic usage. The AMS Team regularly tracked antibiotic use, the effects of interventions, and the resistance patterns of pathogens in the hospital. The reporting system was enhanced and standardized by participation in the Korea National Antimicrobial Use Analysis System, and educational efforts are ongoing. Stepwise implementation of the ASP and the efforts of the AMS Team have led to a substantial reduction in the overall consumption of antibiotics, particularly regarding injectables, and optimization of antibiotic use. Our experience highlights the importance of leadership, accountability, institution-specific interventions, and the AMS Team.

Dextrose-containing fluids causing false-positive serum galactomannan: a case-control study and interrupted time series analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the cause of false-positive serum Aspergillus antigen galactomannan (GM) results in our centre. METHODS: We performed a case-control study aiming to elucidate the factors associated with false-positive GM results. Independent risk factors for false-positive GM were evaluated through a multivariable regression analysis. An interrupted time series analysis was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention removing the identified factors. RESULTS: Among 568 patients tested, GM was positive in 130 patients of whom 97 had false-positive GM (cases). These were compared with 427 patients with true-negative GM (controls). Administration of dextrose-containing fluids within 6 days before GM testing was an independent predictor for false-positive GM results (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 18.60; 95% CI, 8.95-38.66. An analysis of GM presence in different dextrose-containing fluids revealed positivity in 34.8% (8 of 23) (manufacturer A) and 33.3% (5 of 15) (manufacturer B) of the samples. Investigation of the manufacturing process revealed that the saccharification process employed enzymes derived from Aspergillus niger. After identifying the root cause of false positivity, GM-containing dextrose fluid use was restricted. Interrupted time series analysis showed an immediate reduction of GM false-positivity (-6.5% per week, p = 0.045) and a declining trend (-0.33% per week, p = 0.005) postintervention. CONCLUSIONS: Administering dextrose-containing fluids was the primary factor causing false-positive serum Aspergillus antigen GM assay results. Our investigation led to a modification of the manufacturing process of the dextrose-containing fluids.

Efficacy and safety profile comparison of colistin and tigecycline on the extensively drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Colistin and tigecycline are the only therapeutic options for extensively drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDR-AB), but there is little comparative study. This retrospective observation study evaluated two-colistin and tigecycline-antibiotics profiles like treatment success rate, negative conversion rate, the length of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU) stay and antibiotics use, mortality rate during hospital stay and adverse event rate, based on the medical record of XDR-AB positive patients who were treated at least 5 d with those intravenous antibiotics. Treatment success rate of colistin (n=39) and tigecycline (n=16) were not different: 48.7% and 43.8%, respectively (p=0.737), though negative conversion rate was significantly higher in the colistin group: 46.2% against 12.5% (p=0.049). There was no statistically significant difference in mortality rate between two groups during hospital stay (43.6% vs. 56.3%, p=0.393). There were no significant differences in the following parameters: the median length of hospital stay (46.0 d vs. 72.5 d), the median length of intensive care units stay (26.0 d vs. 27.0 d), the median length of antibiotics use (15.0 d vs. 13.0 d). The colistin group showed serum creatinine elevation (defined as elevation more than 2.0 mg/dL and 50% increase from the baseline) as 43.6% when compared with 12.5% of the tigecycline group (p=0.028). As a therapeutic option of XDR-AB, colistin showed significantly better negative conversion rate than tigecycline with more frequent nephrotoxic prevalence, and treatment success rate and mortality rate were not different from both antibiotics groups.