CDC Campaign

The CDC maintains an excellent website, Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings, with information on drug-resistant organisms (e.g., community-acquired and healthcare-associated MRSA, S. pneumoniae, Acinetobacter); resources addressing the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance; and links to related campaigns, including the Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings. Specific attention is given to Hospitalized Adults:

• Prevention of CRSBIs is a major focus of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) active 12-Step Program to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance among Hospitalized Adults.
• The CDC Campaign profiles four main strategies. Within the context of these strategies, there are 12 specific steps the hospitalist should model and champion.
• Educational tools and materials are available to help hospitalists raise awareness.

The Four Main Strategies

Download a printable version of the 12 steps outlined below.

Prevent Infection

• Step 1. Vaccinate
  • Give influenza/pneumococcal vaccine to at-risk patients before discharge
  • Get influenza vaccine annually
• Step 2. Get the catheters out
  • Use catheters only when essential
  • Use the correct catheter
  • Use proper insertion and catheter-care protocols
  • Remove catheters when they are no longer essential

Diagnose and Treat Infection Effectively

• Step 3. Target the pathogen
  • Culture the patient
  • Target empiric therapy to likely pathogens and local antibiogram
  • Target definitive therapy to known pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility test results
• Step 4. Access the experts
  • Consult infectious diseases experts for patients with serious infections

Use Antimicrobials Wisely

• Step 5. Practice antimicrobial control
  • Engage in local antimicrobial control efforts.
• Step 6. Use local data
  • Know your antibiogram.
  • Know your patient population.
• Step 7. Treat infection, not contamination
  • Use proper antisepsis for blood and other cultures.
  • Culture the blood, not the skin or catheter hub.
  • Use proper methods to obtain and process all cultures.
• Step 8. Treat infection, not colonization
  • Treat pneumonia, not the tracheal aspirate.
  • Treat bacteremia, not the catheter tip or hub.
  • Treat urinary tract infection, not the indwelling catheter.
• Step 9. Know when to say "no" to vanco
  • Treat infection, not contaminants or colonization.
  • Fever in a patient with an intravenous catheter is not a routine indication for vancomycin.
• Step 10. Stop antimicrobial treatment:
  • When infection is cured.
  • When cultures are negative and infection is unlikely
  • When infection is not diagnosed.

Prevent transmission

• Step 11. Isolate the pathogen
  • Use standard infection control precautions.
  • Contain infectious body fluids. (Follow airborne, droplet, and contact precautions.)
  • When in doubt, consult infection control experts.
• Step 12. Break the chain of contagion
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Keep your hands clean.
  • Set an example.

Download a printable version of the 12 steps outlined above.

Additional Resources

Pocket Card
A 3.5" x 5.5" laminated pocket card (see images) for quick reference of the 12 steps to prevent antimicrobial resistance among hospitalized adults.
Order this Item.

Poster
A 20" x 30" poster for quick reference (see image) of the 12 steps to prevent antimicrobial resistance among hospitalized adults.
Order this Item.

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