GUARD Coalition

Pan-Resistant Gram Negative Infections

Administrator — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:53:49 +0000

More and more literature is documenting the rising problem of gram-negative infections that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. Few therapeutic options exist for patients infected with these organisms, and in some cases there is simply no effective therapy available. Many of these patients die. Particularly troublesome of late is Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC), an enzyme found initially in Klebsiella pneumoniae and now in other gram negative organisms as well. KPC producing organisms are able to resist all Carbapenems, a class of very broad spectrum antibiotics that includes Imipenem, Meropenem, and Ertapenem.

Click here to read a recent article in Clinical Infectious Diseases that describes two patients in a New York hospital who were recently infected with KPC producing organisms.Click here to read an article from the New York Times that discusses the growing problem of antibiotic resistance to gram negative infections.

CME Offer on Antibiotic Use

Administrator — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:03:34 +0000

Wayne State University is offering a CME course on the appropriate use of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections. Click here to access the course.

Get Smart Week

Administrator — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:34:25 +0000

During the week of October 5-11, CDC is promoting "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week". This is a yearly focus on appropriate use of antibiotics that involves Get Smart partners around the country. GUARD is pleased to participate in Get Smart Week. Click here to view a video prepared by the CDC that explains in simple terms when we use antibiotics, and when we should not.

Antibiotic Use Decreasing

Administrator — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:41:52 +0000

There is good news about the inappropriate use of antibiotics in children. This report from Reuters discusses the results of a study showing a significant decrease in the use of antibiotics for acute respiratory infections over the past 10 years. The study published by Dr. Carlos Grijalva and colleagues from Vanderbilt University can be found in this week's issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Click here to read more.

Vancomycin Dosing for Staph Aureus

Administrator — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:55:42 +0000

Dosing and monitoring recommendations for Vancomycin in the treatment of Staph Aureus infections have been modified due to rising minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) nationwide. For more information, see the August 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases (Clin Infect Dis. 2009;49:325–327). For those with Medscape access, click here to veiw a summary of the recommendations.

Resistance To Antiviral and Antibacterial Agents

Administrator — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:14:20 +0000

CNN has just published a nice summary of issues surrounding antimicrobial resistance among Swine Flu strains and various bacteria, including MRSA. Click here for the full story.

Antimicrobial Paint Effective Against Resistant Bacteria

Administrator — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:06:25 +0000

A team of researchers in South Dakota have announced the development of a new antimicrobial paint that appears to be effective against a number of bacteria, including Stapylococcus aureus. To read more please click on the following link:

http://www.webmd.com/news/20090416/super-strong-paint-kills-superbugs

The citation for the original article: Zhengbing, C. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Feb. 25, 2009; vol 1: pp 494-504.

Free Antibiotics: Not Such a Good Idea

Administrator — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:29:33 +0000

A number of retail stores and pharmacies have made efforts in recent years to provide certain prescription medications at either a low rate or free of charge. While laudable in their intent, these policies have great potential to undermine progress that has been made in reducing unnecessary antibiotic use and rates of antimicrobial resistance. This topic has now hit the mainstream media. A recent article in the New York Times highlights the problem with free antibiotics. To read more, click on this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/health/policy/05drugs.html?_r=1

MRSA in Columbia County Schools

Administrator — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:30:00 +0000

An article from the Augusta Chronicle describing reports of MRSA in local schools. Click here to read the article.

CA-MRSA CME Offer

Administrator — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:27:00 +0000

GUARD is pleased to offer a lecture on Community Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (CA-MRSA) as part of a statewide educational campaign. Physicians can get 1.25 Continuing Medical Education cretdits through the Medical College of Georgia for participating in this activity. Both the lecture and the CME offer can be accessed by clicking on the following link: http://www.mcg.edu/ce/Online/mrsaonline.htm Physicians can listen alone or listen and get credit. Please follow instructions on the linked web-page to claim CME credit. The first 250 physicians to respond to the offer will receive these credits for free. The cost for any further physicians is $10.

9,700 pirmary care physicians throughout Georgia received educational packets in September of 2008 that contain a variety of materials on CA-MRSA. These materials include a fact sheet, a patient discharge form, a poster, and a two-page synopsis of CDC recommendations on management of CA-MRSA infections. All of these materials are also available for download on this website. Please go to the "Educational Materials" tab to find them.

Any member of the public can also listen to this lecture for free. To do so, click on the same link: http://www.mcg.edu/ce/Online/mrsaonline.htm. Scroll down the page giving instructions to physicians, then click on "view online program".

This effort represents a collaboration between GUARD, the Georgia Department of Human Resources, and the Georgia MRSA Task Force, with additional assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.