U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week Resources
The Washington State Department of Health’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Team would like to wish you a Happy U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week!
Their team is proud to announce that two new resources are available now:
- WA DOH’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit for Nursing Homes
- Will be listed on the DOH NH page under “WA DOH Implementation Resources” header
- Contains tools to assist with practical implementation and maintenance of an antimicrobial stewardship program.
- WA DOH and WA-PALTC’s Urine PCR Guidance Document
- Will be listed on the DOH NH page under “Education” header
- Urine polymerase chain reaction-based (PCR) laboratory testing has been promoted to clinicians as an alternative method of obtaining urine cultures.
- Due to the high prevalence and overuse of antibiotics for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in the post-acute and long-term care population, guidance on the topic of PCR urine testing is provided to ensure safety.
Additionally, WSDH would like to invite you to review brand-new resources that we have created on the topic of penicillin allergies. Approximately 10% of people report a history of penicillin allergy – however, less than 1% of the population are found to be truly allergic. There are data that show that penicillins and antibiotics like penicillin work better for certain infections and that people with incorrect penicillin allergy labels are more likely to be colonized or infected with multi-drug resistant organisms. Please visit WA DOH’s Penicillin Allergy Delabeling page to review posted resources.
