Up to 80% of common infections can be spread by hands. Handwashing is the best way to stop the spread of respiratory infections. All patients with colds and the flu should be advised of the importance of handwashing.
Antimicrobial stewardship is the practice of minimizing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance by using antibiotics only when necessary and, if needed, by selecting the appropriate antibiotic at the right dose, frequency and duration to optimize outcomes while minimizing adverse effects. The principles of antimicrobial stewardship apply wherever antimicrobial agents are used including hospitals, long term care facilities, community medicine, agriculture and veterinary use, and in the home and community.
National and International Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiatives
The evolving threat of antimicrobial resistance. Options for action. from the World Health Organization, March 2012.
AntibioticAwareness.ca sponsored by the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Antimicrobial stewardship in daily practice: Managing an important resource, a position statement from the Canadian Paediatric Society.
Antimicrobial Stewardship in Canadian Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada
Get Smart program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines for establishing institutional antimicrobial stewardship programs
European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases has several arms including development of antimicrobial stewardship programs
Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG) promotes safe and effective use of antibiotics in hospital and primary care
Strama is the Swedish strategic program against antimicrobial resistance
Danmap is the Danish program for surveillance of antimicrobial consumption and resistance in bacteria from animals, food and humans