For Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) on Public Health

Messages for Outpatient Healthcare Professionals (HCPs)

• You can do harm by prescribing antibiotics when they are not needed. Remind your patients that antibiotics are only needed to treat certain infections caused by bacteria, not viruses like SARS-CoV-2.

• Tell your patients why they don’t need antibiotics for a viral respiratory infection, what to do to feel better, and when to seek care again if they don’t feel better.

• Always prescribe the right antibiotic, at the right dose, for the right duration, and at the right time.

  • Using the shortest effective duration of antibiotic therapy is a key antibiotic stewardship strategy in all health care settings. The goal is to optimize the treatment of the infection while minimizing the risks of side effects from antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.

• Talk to patients and their families about possible harms from antibiotics, such as allergic reactions, C. difficile. and antibiotic-resistant infections.

• Educate your patients and their families to recognize the signs and symptoms of worsening infection and sepsis, and to know when to seek medical care.

• If sepsis is suspected, gather patient information and immediately communicate it to hospital healthcare professionals. Antibiotics should be started as soon as possible when sepsis is suspected.

Messages for Inpatient & Long-term Care HCPs

• You can do harm by prescribing antibiotics when they are not needed.

  • Patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria should not be treated with antibiotics in most cases.

  • Antibiotics are only needed to treat certain infections caused by bacteria, not viruses like SARS-CoV-2.

• Optimizing the use of diagnostic tests is critical for improving treatment of conditions like sepsis and stopping the spread of infections, including those caused by SARS-CoV-2.

• Always remember to prescribe the right antibiotic, at the right dose, for the right duration, and at the right time.

  • Reassess antibiotic therapy to stop or tailor treatment based on the patient/resident’s clinical condition and diagnostic test results as appropriate.

  • Use of the shortest effective duration of antibiotic therapy is a key antibiotic stewardship strategy. Optimizing duration of therapy, especially in care transitions, is an important target for improvement.

Messages about Antibiotic Resistance

• Antibiotics can save lives, but any time antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance.

• Antibiotic resistance happens when germs, like bacteria and fungi, develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to grow.

• Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health.

• More than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. (See CDC’s antibiotic resistance website).

• In addition, 223,900 cases of Clostridioides difficile occurred in 2017 and at least 12,800 people died.

• Antibiotic resistance does not mean the body is becoming resistant to antibiotics; it means bacteria that live in and on our bodies develop the ability to defeat the antibiotics designed to kill them.

• When bacteria become resistant, antibiotics cannot fight them, and the bacteria multiply.

• Antibiotic-resistant infections can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to treat.

• Antibiotic-resistant germs can quickly spread across settings, including communities, the food supply, healthcare facilities, the environment (e.g., soil, water), and around the world. Antibiotic resistance is a One Health problem—the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment (soil, water).