Study: Link between infection control and antibiotic stewardship

Healthcare facilities must ensure that infection prevention and control (IPC) and antibiotic stewardship (AS) programs work together, according to a joint position paper released last week by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and the Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists (SIDP).

An update to a 2012 paper that examined the roles of infection preventionists and healthcare epidemiologists in the use of antimicrobials, the new paper was published in the American Journal of Infection Control and Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. The new paper focuses on the synergy between IPC and AS programs, with emphasis on the importance of an effective IPC program as part of a strong AS strategy.

?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,? said lead author of the new paper Mary Lou Manning, PhD, CRNP, CIC, FSHEA, FAPIC, in an APIC press release. ?The vital work of IPC and AS programs cannot be performed independently. They require interdependent and coordinated action across multiple and overlapping disciplines and clinical settings to achieve the larger purpose of keeping patients safe from infection and ensuring that effective antibiotic therapy is available for future generations.?

AS programs strive to emphasize the appropriate use of antimicrobials to minimize overuse, improve patient outcomes, reduce microbial resistance, decrease infection spread, and preserve antibiotic efficacy, according to the release. AS programs are more effective when rolled out alongside IPC programs than they are on their own, the paper states.

A study recently released in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety found that antimicrobial-resistant organisms lead to more than 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths each year in the U.S. The use of AS programs can reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use, length of stay, rates of antimicrobial-resistant infections, and cost, the researchers found.

This story originally ran in PSQH.