Point Prevalence and Characteristics of In-House Antimicrobial Use in Nursing Homes, New Haven and Hartford Counties, Connecticut, 2017.

National trends indicate the amount and complexity of health care delivery in US nursing homes (NHs) is increasing.1 In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Emerging Infections Program (EIP) conducted a point prevalence survey to gather data on antimicrobial use (AU) in NHs in 10 EIP sites including Connecticut (CT). NHs in two of CT’s eight counties were randomly selected to participate in a one-day AU point prevalence survey. Of 1299 residents in 11 participating NHs, 128 (10%) received ≥ 1 antimicrobial drug (AD) on the survey date or the day prior, of which 94 (73%) were ordered in-house. Most in-house AD orders (76/94, 81%) were for treatment of an active infection, and among those less than half (34/76, 45%) met the revised McGeer Criteria² for infection or had a culture performed (36, 47%). Most organisms isolated grew from urine specimens (25/36, 70%) of which (10/36, 28%) grew an organism resistant to at least one drug (range 1-7). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]