Search

International audience; PURPOSE: Giving advice about antibiotic prescription through dedicated consultations is a cornerstone of antibiotic stewardship programmes. Our objective was to explore practices, organisation, and regulatory requirements related to antibiotic advising.METHODS: We performed an international, exploratory, Internet-based, cross-sectional survey targeting infectious diseases and clinical microbiology specialists. It was disseminated through ESCMID and ESGAP networks.RESULTS: Answers from 830 participants (74 countries, 77% of participants from Europe) were collected. Consultations were mostly given on demand (81%, 619/764), while unsolicited consultations targeting specific conditions (e.g., positive blood culture) were less frequent (66%, 501/764). Consultations usually included indications on diagnostic work-up and follow-up (> 79%). Curbside consultations (i.e., without examining the patient) were reported by 82% (598/733) of respondents, mainly by phone (89%, 531/598). The referring physician was considered authorised not to follow the advice by 57% (383/676). Direct consultations (i.e., after examining the patient) were recorded in the medical file more frequently than curbside consultations (69%, 472/689 vs 35%, 206/592). Concerning legal liability, the majority of respondents considered that it is shared between the adviser and the referring physician, who, however, is considered primarily responsible. The advisers' liability was considered to be lower in cases of curbside and unrecorded consultations. Significant inter-countries and intra-country variability were identified, suggesting that the setting markedly influenced practices.CONCLUSION: Significant variability exists in the practice of antibiotic advising. This concerns both the organisation of care and how advisers perceive regulatory requirements. These elements must be taken into account when implementing antibiotic stewardship programmes and when training stewards.

Objectives: To investigate the occurrence of antibiotic residues in different types of environmental samples including water samples in rural Shandong province, China. Further, to characterize the potential ecological risk for development of antibiotic resistance in the environment, and the potential direct human health risk of exposure to antibiotics via drinking water and vegetables. Methods: Environmental samples (n = 214) (river water, waste water, drinking water, sediments, manure, soil and edible parts of vegetables) were collected in twelve villages in Shandong province in eastern China. High performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS) was used to determine the concentration of antibiotic residues. The ratio of the measured environmental concentrations (MEC) to the predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC) was used to evaluate the ecological risk (risk quotient, RQ) for development of antibiotic resistance. The potential risks to human health through exposure to antibiotics in drinking water were assessed by comparing measured environmental concentrations (MEC) and predicted no-effect concentration in drinking water (PNECDW), and in vegetables by comparing estimated daily intake (EDI) to ADI. Results: Sulfapyridine, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, levofloxacin, norfloxacin, chloramphenicol, florfenicol, doxycycline, and metronidazole were detected at concentrations ranging between 0.3 and 3.9 ng/L in river water, 1.3 and 12.5 ng/L in waste water, 0.5 and 21.4 ng/L in drinking water, 0.31 and 1.21 μg/kg in river sediment, 0.82 and 1.91 μg/kg in pig manure, 0.1 and 11.68 μg/kg in outlet sediment, 0.5 and 2.5 μg/kg in soil, and 6.3 and 27.2 μg/kg in vegetables. The RQs for resistance development were >1 for enrofloxacin, levofloxacin, and ranged between 0.1 and 1 for ciprofloxacin. MECs/PNECDW ratios were

Problems of antibiotic access and excess coexist in the world today and are compounded by rising rates of antibiotic resistance. We introduce two dimensions of responsibility to this context: responsible individual practices and a broad societal obligation centered on sustainability. Acting on these responsibilities requires recognizing the potential tensions between an individual optimum for antibiotic use and the societal optimum. We relate the tragedy of the commons metaphor to this situation to illustrate the complexity involved, and we draw on real-world experiences in Uganda, India, China and France. We conclude that we must form a global stewardship of antibiotics that can link access, innovation and conservation efforts across countries to ensure sustainable access to effective antibiotics for all who need them.

Objectives We had for aim to learn about medical students’ knowledge and perspectives on antibiotic prescribing and bacterial resistance. Methods Penultimate and final year students at a French medical school were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey in summer 2012. Results The response rate was 20% (60/297). Penultimate and final year students gave similar answers. Students felt more confident in diagnosing an infection, and less confident in choosing the correct dose and interval of antibiotic administration. Seventy-nine percent of students wanted more training on antibiotic treatments. Sixty-nine percent of students knew that antibiotic prescriptions were inappropriate or unnecessary in 21–60% of the cases, and 95% believed that these prescriptions were unethical. Only 27% knew that more than 80% of antibiotic prescriptions were made in community practice. Students believed that the most important causes of resistance were that too many prescriptions were made and broad-spectrum antibiotic use; 27% believed poor hand hygiene was “not at all important”. Ninety-four percent believed resistance was a national problem, and 69% mentioned it as a problem in their hospital. Sixty-three percent thought that the antibiotics they would prescribe would contribute to resistance, and 96% thought resistance would be a greater problem in the future. Twenty-two percent knew MRSA bacteremia rates had decreased over the past decade in France. Conclusions Medical students are aware that antibiotic resistance is a current and growing problem. They would like more training on antibiotic selection.

Objective: A major site of action for the atheroprotective drug nicotinic acid (NA) is adipose tissue, via the G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR109A. Since, adipose tissue is an active secretory organ that contributes both positively and negatively to systemic inflammatory processes associated with cardiovascular disease, we hypothesized that NA would act directly upon adipocytes to alter the expression of pro-inflammatory chemokines, and the anti-inflammatory adipokine adiponectin. Methods and results: TNF-α treatment (1.0 ng/mL) of 3T3-L1 adipocytes resulted in an increase in gene expression of fractalkine (9 ± 3.3-fold, P < 0.01); monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) (24 ± 1.2-fold, P < 0.001), 'regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted' (RANTES) (500 ± 55-fold, P < 0.001) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (200 ± 70-fold, P < 0.05). The addition of NA (10-4 M) to TNF-α-treated adipocytes attenuated expression of fractalkine (50 ± 12%, P < 0.01); MCP-1 (50 ± 6%, P < 0.01), RANTES (70 ± 3%, P < 0.01) and iNOS (60 ± 16%). This pattern was mirrored in protein released from the adipocytes into the surrounding media. The effect on gene expression was neutralised by pre-treatment with pertussis toxin. NA attenuated macrophage chemotaxis (by 27 ± 3.5%, P < 0.001) towards adipocyte conditioned media. By contrast, NA, (10-6-10-3 M) increased, in a dose-dependent manner, mRNA of the atheroprotective hormone adiponectin (3-5-fold n = 6, P < 0.01). Conclusions: NA suppresses pro-atherogenic chemokines and upregulates the atheroprotective adiponectin through a G-protein-coupled pathway. Since adipose tissue has the potential to contribute to both systemic and local (perivascular) inflammation associated with atherosclerosis our results suggest a new "pleiotropic" role for NA. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction Reduire les durees d’antibiotherapie limite l’emergence des resistances bacteriennes. Les pratiques actuelles concernant les durees des antibiotherapies sont cependant mal connues. Materiels et methodes Cette enquete internationale ESCMID-SPILF, ouverte du 1 er septembre au 1 er decembre 2016, avait pour but d’evaluer les durees d’antibiotherapie conseillees par les medecins/pharmaciens seniors donnant des avis au minimum hebdomadaires en antibiotherapie. Nous avons evalue leurs pratiques a l’aide de quinze vignettes presentant des situations cliniques d’evolution favorable frequemment rencontrees en pratique courante. Les participants ont ensuite ete interroges sur la duree minimale de traitement qu’ils seraient prets a prescrire dans les memes situations. Resultats Huit cent soixante-six professionnels (infectiologues 59 % et microbiologistes 23 %) provenant de 58 pays (France 19 %, Royaume-Uni 16 %, Espagne 9 % et Allemagne 8 %) ont participe. La duree de prescription conseillee par les participants excedait parfois la duree minimale validee dans la litterature : 8 jours conseilles versus 7 jours valides dans la litterature pour un erysipele, 7 vs 5 jours pour une exacerbation de BPCO, ou 7 vs 5 jours pour une cholecystite aigue non compliquee et operee dans les 24 heures. Les durees conseillees etaient cependant majoritairement (10/15 vignettes) en accord avec la litterature. Les participants declaraient etre prets a raccourcir les durees conseillees dans 8/15 vignettes, avec par exemple 28 jours de traitement pour une infection de pied diabetique, 5 jours pour une exacerbation de BPCO ou 10 jours pour une bacteriemie a S . aureus non compliquee. Conclusion Les professionnels ayant une activite de conseil en antibiotherapie declarent recommander des durees plutot courtes d’antibiotherapie, et semblent meme enclins a raccourcir encore ces durees. L’application des futures propositions de la SPILF sur le sujet semble donc possible en pratique.

Background Commensal bacteria represent an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes. Few community-based studies of antibiotic resistance in commensal bacteria have been conducted in Southeast Asia. We investigated the prevalence of resistance in commensal Escherichia coli in preschool children in rural Vietnam, and factors associated with carriage of resistant bacteria. Methods We tested isolates of E. coli from faecal samples of 818 children aged 6-60 months living in FilaBavi, a demographic surveillance site near Hanoi. Daily antibiotic use data was collected for participating children for three weeks prior to sampling and analysed with socioeconomic and demographic characteristics extracted from FilaBavi's re-census survey 2007. Descriptive statistics were generated, and a logistic regression model was used to identify contributions of the examined factors. Results High prevalences of resistance were found to tetracycline (74%), co-trimoxazole (68%), ampicillin (65%), chloramphenicol (40%), and nalidixic acid (27%). Two isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Sixty percent of isolates were resistant to three or more antibiotics. Recent sulphonamide use was associated with co-trimoxazole resistance [OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.8-5.7], and beta-lactam use with ampicillin resistance [OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.4]. Isolates from children aged 6-23 months were more likely to be resistant to ampicillin [OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.4] and co-trimoxazole [OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.0]. Associations were identified between geographical areas and tetracycline and ampicillin resistance. Conclusions We present high prevalence of carriage of commensal E. coli resistant to commonly used antibiotics. The identified associations with recent antibiotic use, age, and geographical location might contribute to our understanding of carriage of antibiotic resistant commensal bacteria.

International audience; As people are living longer the demand for long-term care facilities (LTCFs) continues to rise. For many reasons, antimicrobials are used intensively in LTCFs, with up to a half of this use considered inappropriate or unnecessary. Over-use of antimicrobials can have direct adverse consequences for LTCF residents and promotes the development and spread of resistant bacteria. It is therefore critical that LTCFs are able to engage in antimicrobial stewardship programmes, which have the potential to minimize the antibiotic selective pressure, while improving the quality of care received by LTCF residents. To date, no antimicrobial stewardship guidelines specific to LTCF settings have been published. Here we outline the scale of antimicrobial use in LTCFs and the underlying drivers for antibiotic over-use. We further describe the particular challenges of antimicrobial stewardship in LTCFs, and review the interventional studies that have aimed to improve antibiotic use in these settings. Practical recommendations are then drawn from this research to help guide the development and implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes.