"Our mission remains driven by two goals:
to improve patient safety and enhance quality of care."
Libby Dodds-Ashley talks about the 2-day Antimicrobial Stewardship Research Workshop, hosted by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and how it brings together physicians, pharmacists, and other health professionals to learn how to study and assess the performance of antibiotic stewardship interventions.
Read the full article from CIDRAP here.
Dr. Nicholas Turner, a fellow with the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention, has been invited to join The Robert J. Lefkowitz Society.
The Society is named for Dr. Lefkowitz, esteemed Duke faculty member and recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
From the Duke Department of Medicine's website:
A secondary analysis from the BETR-Disinfection study, published June 4 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, demonstrates the effectiveness of UV in reducing certain types of infections hospital-wide. The study authors state:
The addition of a UV-C device to standard terminal room disinfection decreased the risk of subsequent acquisition and infection by target multidrug-resistant organisms such as C difficile and VRE. This study further shows that enhanced disinfection can have both a direct effect on the next patient who enters a contact isolation room and an indirect beneficial effect on other patients admitted to hospital.
DASON pharmacist and Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) President Elizabeth Dodds Ashley is an author on a position paper by several leading healthcare organizations. The paper supports the importance of both infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship programs and the integral links between both.
“The issues surrounding the prevention and control of infections are intrinsically linked with the issues associated with the use of antimicrobial agents and the proliferation and spread of multidrug-resistant organisms,” says lead author Mary Lou Manning.
Antimicrobial resistance is a major challenge for modern healthcare. The Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention includes a unique portfolio of programs to fight this growing problem. We at CDC look forward to continuing our collaborations with Duke to help protect patients.
Dr Anderson and colleagues in the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention are world leaders in the important and essential fight to prevent infections and antimicrobial resistance. They are truly providing the 'guiding lights' and leadership for all to follow in this mission.
The Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention is an important source for education and programmatic support for hospitals in the Southeastern US. In addition, their research on the epidemiology of multidrug-resistant pathogens and enhancing antibiotic stewardship is of high quality and public health value. I look forward to collaborating with Dr. Anderson and his expert colleagues for years to come.
