Researchers at the American Society for Microbiology's 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy reported that antibiotic stewardship interventions may decrease complications, cost and antibiotic resistance for pediatric inpatients.
They examined data from pediatric inpatients receiving systematic antibiotics for common bacterial infections before and after an antimicrobial stewardship intervention, which consisted of interactive workshops and monitoring of antibiotic prescriptions within the test hospitals.
After the intervention, the average number of days needed to treat bacterial infections decreased between one and two days, and the average cost per episode decreased from $690 to $460, according to the presentation.
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