Antibiotic resistance is an increasing health concern. A growing number of germs no longer respond to the drugs made to kill them. Wrongfully prescribing antibiotics and poor infection control can cause drug resistance and put patients at risk for deadly diarrhea.
Lack of coordination between facilities can put patients at increased risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend 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.
Germs called CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae) can cause deadly infections and are resistant to nearly all antibiotics we have today. CRE can easily spread between health care facilities because of patient transfers. To prevent contamination, health officials need to work together. Facilities can alert one another by providing data about drug resistant infections, outbreaks and prevention strategies.
According to the CDC, national efforts to prevent infections and improve antibiotic prescribing could prevent 619,000 antibiotic-resistant infections over 5 years.
Watch the following CDC video to learn more about combating antibiotic resistance.
