Antimicrobial stewardship program achieved marked decrease in Clostridium difficile infections in a Veterans Hospital

Froehlich Morgan; Maymonah Belal; Bailey Lisa; Florence Ford; Beth LeMaitre; George Psevdos

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2019.12.023

Antimicrobial stewardship program achieved marked decrease in Clostridium difficile infections in a Veterans Hospital

Am J Infect Control. 2020 Sep;48(9):1119-1121. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2019.12.023. Epub 2020 Feb 6.

Authors

Froehlich Morgan¹, Maymonah Belal², Bailey Lisa³, Florence Ford³, Beth LeMaitre⁴, George Psevdos⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport NY.
² Department of Infectious Diseases, Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook, NY.
³ Department of Nursing, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, NY.
⁴ Microbiology Department, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, NY.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, NY. Electronic address: george.psevdos@va.gov.

PMID: 32035688
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2019.12.023

Abstract

Clostridium (or Clostridioides) difficile infection (CDI) is a common side effect of antimicrobial therapy and is increasingly linked with health care-associated transmissions. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) have demonstrated success in decreasing in-hospital CDI cases. We implemented an ASP targeting inappropriate or unnecessary use of all antibiotics especially empiric piperacillin-tazobactam and fluoroquinolone use. Concurrently, we monitored all health-care associated CDI. Our CDI cases were markedly decreased after initiation of our ASP.

Keywords: Antimicrobial stewardship; Clostridioides difficile infection; Infection control.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
Antimicrobial Stewardship*
Clostridioides difficile*
Clostridium Infections* / drug therapy
Hospitals, Veterans*
Humans
United States

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents