Colistin Monotherapy versus Colistin plus Sitafloxacin for Therapy of Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Infections: A Preliminary Study

The in vitro study of sitafloxacin against carbapenem-resistant (CR) Acinetobacter baumannii demonstrated activity against most strains of CR A. baumannii, and the combination of colistin and sitafloxacin showed an in vitro synergistic effect against CR A. baumannii. This study aimed to compare efficacy and safety between colistin plus sitafloxacin with colistin alone for therapy for CR A. baumannii infection. This randomized controlled trial enrolled 56 patients with CR A. baumannii infection (28/group) during 2018–2021, and the treatment duration was 7–14 days. The study outcomes were 28-day mortality, clinical and microbiological responses, and adverse events. There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality between groups (32.1% combination vs. 32.1% monotherapy, p = 1.000). Favorable clinical response at the end of treatment was comparable between groups (81.5% combination vs. 77.8% monotherapy, p = 0.788). Microbiological response at the end of treatment was also comparable between groups (73.1% combination vs. 74.1% monotherapy, p = 0.934). Acute kidney injury was found in 53.8% of the combination group, and in 45.8% of the monotherapy group (p = 0.571). In conclusion, there was no significant difference in 28-day mortality between the colistin monotherapy and the colistin plus sitafloxacin groups. There was also no significant difference in adverse events between groups

Impact of Antibiotic Authorisation at Three Provincial Hospitals in Thailand: Results from a Quasi-Experimental Study

Implementing antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) at non-university hospitals is challenging. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine the impact of customised antibiotic authorisation implementation on antimicrobial consumption and clinical outcomes at three provincial hospitals in Thailand. Customised pre-authorisation of selected restricted antibiotics and post-authorisation of selected controlled antibiotics were undertaken and implemented at each hospital by the local AMS team with guidance from the AMS team at the university hospital. From January 2019–December 2020, there were 1802 selected patients (901 patients during the pre-implementation period and 901 patients during the post-implementation period). The most commonly used targeted antimicrobial was meropenem (49.61%), followed by piperacillin/tazobactam (36.46%). Comparison of the outcomes of the patients during the pre- and post-implementation periods revealed that the mean day of therapy of the targeted antimicrobials was significantly shorter during the post-implementation period (6.24 vs. 7.64 days; p p = 0.03) and the mean length of hospital stay was significantly shorter during the post-implementation period (15.78 vs. 18.90 days; p < 0.001). In conclusion, implementation of antibiotic authorisation at provincial hospitals under experienced AMS team’s guidance was feasible and useful. The study results could be a good model for the implementation of customised AMS strategies at other hospitals with limited resources

Implementation of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Empirical Antibiotic Therapy of Bacteremia, Urinary Tract Infection, and Pneumonia: A Multi-Center Quasi-Experimental Study

A quasi-experimental study was conducted on the implementation of locally developed clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for empirical antibiotic (ATB) therapy of common infections (bacteremia, urinary tract infection (UTI), pneumonia) in the hospitals from January 2019 to December 2020. The CPGs were developed using data from patients with these infections at individual hospitals. Relevant CPG data pre- and post-implementation were collected and compared. Of the 1644 patients enrolled in the study, 808 and 836 were in the pre- and post-implementation periods, respectively, and patient outcomes were compared. Significant reductions in the mean durations of intensive care unit stay (3.44 &plusmn; 9.08 vs. 2.55 &plusmn; 7.89 days; p = 0.035), ventilator use (5.73 &plusmn; 12.14 vs. 4.22 &plusmn; 10.23 days; p = 0.007), piperacillin/tazobactam administration (0.954 &plusmn; 3.159 vs. 0.660 &plusmn; 2.217 days, p = 0.029), and cefoperazone/sulbactam administration (0.058 &plusmn; 0.737 vs. 0.331 &plusmn; 1.803 days, p = 0.0001) occurred. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that CPG-implementation was associated with favorable clinical outcomes (adjusted odds ratio 1.286, 95% confidence interval: 1.004&ndash;1.647, p = 0.046). Among patients who provided follow-up cultures (n = 284), favorable microbiological responses were significantly less frequent during the pre-implementation period than the post-implementation period (80.35% vs. 91.89%; p = 0.01). In conclusion, the locally developed CPG implementation is feasible and effective in improving patient outcomes and reducing ATB consumption. Hospital antimicrobial stewardship teams should be able to facilitate CPG development and implementation for antimicrobial therapy for common infections

Feasibility, Challenges, and Benefits of Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System Implementation: Results from a Multicenter Quasi-Experimental Study

The Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) is one of the pillars of the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance launched by the World Health Organization in 2015. This study was conducted to determine the feasibility and benefits of GLASS as a component of antimicrobial stewardship strategies in three provincial hospitals in Thailand. Data on the types of bacteria isolated and their antibiotic susceptibility during January&ndash;December 2019 and January&ndash;April 2020 were retrieved from the microbiology laboratory of each participating hospital. Laboratory-based antibiograms from 2019 and GLASS-based antibiograms from 2020 were created and compared. A total of 14,877 and 3580 bacterial isolates were obtained during January&ndash;December 2019 and January&ndash;April 2020, respectively. The common bacteria isolated in both periods were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Hospital-acquired infection (HAI)-related bacteria were observed in 59.0%, whereas community-acquired infection (CAI)-related bacteria were observed in 41.0% of isolates. Antibiotic resistance in CAIs was high and may have been related to the misclassification of colonized bacteria as true pathogens and HAIs as CAIs. The results of this study on AMR surveillance using GLASS methodology may not be valid owing to several inadequate data collections and the problem of specimen contamination. Given these considerations, related personnel should receive additional training on the best practices in specimen collection and the management of AMR surveillance data using the GLASS approach