TRENDS
Antibiotic Stewardship an Uphill Battle Nursing homes have the greatest need ... but the fewest resources Since the mass production of penicillin began in the 1940s, antimicrobials have drastically improved human
health, preventing death from bacterial infection and lowering the risk associated with surgery and other lifesaving medical procedures, point out the authors of a recent report from the National Academy of Medicine, “Combating Antimicrobial Resistance and Protecting the Miracle of Modern Medicine.” But almost as quickly as the first family of antibacterials was introduced, its usefulness declined. Within six years of the introduction of penicillin, roughly a quarter of staphylococcal infections in hospitals (where the drug was often used) were no longer susceptible to it. Penicillin resistance continued to spread, and by the 1970s was as common in community-acquired infections as in hospitals. 28
January 2022
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