Update: 2005 Antibiograms Available on CHH Intranet
Last updated: 05/31/2006
It is well established that antimicrobial resistance is on the rise. Bacteria have a variety of resistance mechanisms by which they may lose susceptibility to certain antibiotics. Bacteria susceptibility differs based on location ? not only geographical area but also floors within hospitals. Not only do different pathogens exist in different areas of the hospital (for instance, the medical intensive care unit versus the pediatric floor), but the susceptibility of these pathogens also differs.
One of the Center for Disease Control's Twelve Steps to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance Among Hospitalized Patients focuses on diagnosing and treating infections effectively by means of using antibiograms to direct empiric therapy and then use the results of culture and susceptibility reports to target definitive therapy.
Antibiograms are compilations of in vitro susceptbilities of isolated bacteria to a variety of drugs. They can help providers direct drug therapy by highlighting the differences in susceptibility. Often facilities have different antibiograms for different locations in the hospital. The results from 2005 have been compiled into four different antibiograms for Cabell Huntington Hospital: the general medical floors, pediatrics (both general ward and the pediatric intensive care unit), neonatal intensive care unit, and the adult intensive care units (burn, medical and cardiac intensive care unit). The surgical intensive care unit was excluded due to the limited amount of data at the time of analysis.
The general medical floor antibiogram also lists the most common pathogens encountered from common infection sites including the urinary tract, blood, wounds, upper and lower respiratory tract infections and stool. This can further help direct antibiotic therapy by alerting providers to the most likely bacteria in a patient without confounding risk factors.
Copies of the antibiograms are available online through the Cabell Huntington Hospital, Inc. intranet by clicking on the "pharmacy links" on the left hand tool bar and choosing the appropriate antibiogram from the list on the bottom right of the page. This site is only accessible through computers on the Cabell Huntington Hospital network; it cannot be accessed from outside the hospital. A paper copy of the antibiograms can also be obtained by contacting Robert Stanton at x 2133 or Kerri DeNucci at x 2374.
Locating the Antibiogram on the Intranet
- Log on to the intranet home page at www.chhi.org
- Click on Pharmacy Links located under the Clinicians header on the left-hand side of the page
- Click on the appropriate Antibiogram on the bottom right of the page to view the PDF file of the antibiogram