Use what you have: leveraging microbiology support to develop a cumulative antibiotic susceptibility report for antimicrobial stewardship at a district hospital in Ghana.

Background: Antibiograms provide effective support for empirical prescribing and antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs). In low-resource settings, microbiology systems to develop antibiograms may be rudimentary or entirely lacking, which may place such facilities at a disadvantage. Notwithstanding this, facilities should use what they have to support ASPs to inform evidence-based antibiotic use. We report how an antibiogram was developed at a district hospital in Ghana to support its ASP. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) results from the University Hospital, KNUST from January to December 2021. Data were exported from the hospital's laboratory information system to Microsoft Excel (Version 2013). IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 25) and Epi Info™ Version 7 were used for statistical analyses. Results: Overall, 1949 cultures were performed, 392 (20.1%) growing bacterial pathogens. Per the CLSI M39-A4 standard guidelines for antibiograms, only 360 of the bacterial isolates were used for the analyses. The majority of isolates were from urine (187; 51.9%). Among the Gram-negative bacteria, there was low susceptibility to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (28%), cephalosporins (11%-35%) and meropenem (21%), but high susceptibility to amikacin (96%) and levofloxacin (81%). Low susceptibility of Gram-positive isolates to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (34%), meropenem (34%) and penicillins (27%-35%) was also recorded, but high susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (80%), gentamicin (79%) and vancomycin (76%). Conclusion: High levels of bacterial resistance to cephalosporins and meropenem in the antibiogram were reported. This antibiogram highlighted the urgent need for pragmatic steps to curb antibiotic resistance through ASPs using strategies that positively improve clinicians' knowledge and prescribing practices.

Assessing the impact of antimicrobial stewardship implementation at a district hospital in Ghana using a health partnership model.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is imperative in addressing the menace of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in health systems. Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship uses a health partnership model to establish AMS in Commonwealth countries. The Hospital of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partnership with Ulster University, Northern Ireland, undertook an AMS project from November 2021 to May 2022. We report on implementation of the AMS, its impact on antibiotic use and infections management at the University Hospital; Kumasi, Ghana. Methods: The Global-Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) protocol was used to assess antibiotics use at the hospital at baseline, midpoint and end of the project. Feedback on each PPS was given to the hospital to inform practice, behavioural change and improve antibiotic use. Results: Antibiotic use reduced from 65% at baseline to 59.7% at the end of the project. The rate of healthcare-associated infections also reduced from 17.5% at baseline to 6.5%. Use of antibiotics from the WHO Access group was 40% at baseline but increased to 50% at the endpoint. Watch antibiotics reduced from 60% to 50% from baseline. Culture and susceptibility requests increased from baseline of 111 total requests to 330 requests in the intervention period to inform antimicrobial therapy. Conclusion: The model AMS instituted improved antibiotic use and quality of antimicrobial therapy within the study period. Continuous staff education and training in AMS, and use of standard tools for assessment and application of local data to inform infections management will ensure sustenance and improvement in the gains made.