Making Health Care Safer

Stop Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

Overview

We're at a tipping point: an increasing number of germs no longer respond to the drugs designed to kill them. Inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics and lack of infection control actions can contribute to drug resistance and put patients at risk for deadly diarrhea (caused by C. difficile). Even if one facility is following recommended infection controls, germs can be spread inside of and between health care facilities when patients are transferred from one health care facility to another without appropriate actions to stop spread. Lack of coordination between facilities can put patients at increased risk. Now more than ever is the time for public health authorities and health care facilities to work together, sharing experiences and connecting patient safety efforts happening across the state.

Health care facility CEOs/administrators can:

• Implement systems to alert receiving facilities when transferring patients who have drug-resistant germs.
• Review and perfect infection control actions within your facility.
• Get leadership commitment to join healthcare-associated infection (HAI)/antibiotic resistance prevention activities in the area.
• Connect with the public health department to share data about antibiotic resistance and other HAIs.
• Make sure clinical staff have access to prompt and accurate laboratory testing for antibiotic-resistant germs.

Antibiotic-resistant germs cause more than 2 million illnesses and at least 23,000 deaths each year in the US.

Up to 70% fewer patients will get CRE over 5 years if facilities coordinate to protect patients.

Preventing infections and improving antibiotic prescribing could save 37,000 lives from drug-resistant infections over 5 years.

Problem

Germs spread between patients and across health care facilities.

Antibiotic resistance is a threat.

• Nightmare germs called CRE (carbapenem-resistantEnterobacteriaceae) can cause deadly infections and have become resistant to all or nearly all antibiotics we have today. CRE spread between health care facilities like hospitals and nursing homes when appropriate actions are not taken.
• MRSA (methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus) infections commonly cause pneumonia and sepsis that can be deadly.
• The germ Pseudomonas aeruginosacan cause HAIs, including bloodstream infections. Strains resistant to almost all antibiotics have been found in hospitalized patients.
• These germs are some of the most deadly resistant germs identified as "urgent" and "serious" threats.

 C. difficile infections are at historically high rates.

• C. difficile (Clostridium difficile), a germ commonly found in health care facilities, can be picked up from contaminated surfaces or spread from a healthcare provider's hands.
• Most C. difficile is not resistant to antibiotics, but when a person takes antibiotics, some good germs are destroyed. Antibiotic use allows C. difficile to take over, putting patients at high risk for deadly diarrhea.

Working together is vital.

• Infections and antibiotic use in one facility affect other facilities because of patient transfers.
• Public health leadership is critical so that facilities are alerted to data about resistant infections, C. difficile, or outbreaks in the area, and can target effective prevention strategies.
• When facilities are alerted to increased threat levels, they can improve antibiotic use and infection control actions so that patients are better protected.
• National efforts to prevent infections and improve antibiotic prescribing could prevent 619,000 antibiotic-resistant and C. difficile infections over 5 years.

Source: CDC