Resource Center for Health Professionals

• Antibiotic Resistance & Public Health Sites
• Organization and Task Force Sites
• Research and Education

Antimicrobial Resistance & Public Health Sites

• Fact sheets about antimicrobial resistance
• Antimicrobial resistance surveillance activities in Washoe County
• Special publications on antimicrobial resistance by the WARR Program
• CDC education materials & treatment guidelines for the providers
• Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department - A comprehensive campaign to combat antimicrobial resistance at a local level.
• Washington State Department of Health - antibiotics are overused. At least once in the past year, 20% or more of Washington adults and parents asked for a prescription for antibiotics before their health care provider recommended it.

Organization and Task Force Sites

• American Family Physician (American Academy of Family Physicians) - antibiotic resistance was once confined primarily to hospitals but is becoming increasingly prevalent in family practice settings, making daily therapeutic decisions more challenging; a plan of action for community practice.
• Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC) - a multi-disciplinary, voluntary, international organization whose purpose is to influence, support and improve the quality of healthcare through the practice and management of infection control and the application of epidemiology in all health settings.
• Center for Science in the Public Interest (CPSI) - the time has come for public and private institutions, as well as the general public, to change their policies and practices to prevent further increases in antibiotic resistance.
• Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) - is a not-for-profit alliance of America`s leading health plans and networks, committed to improving the quality of healthcare and reducing administrative burdens for physicians, patients and payers. Save Antibiotic Strength initiative.
• Do Bugs Need Drugs - a multi-stakeholder, community project in the Capital Health region (Canada) designed to show healthcare professionals and the public about better antibiotic use, issues and concerns about antibiotic resistance and provides easy steps we can take to prevent antibiotic and resistance from developing.
• Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) - represents physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases.
• Los Angeles Antibiotic Resistance Education Advocates (LA AREA) (Los Angeles Public Health Department) - a countywide, CDC grant-funded project aimed at promoting the proper use of antibiotics by collaborating with hospitals, health centers, schools, agencies, pharmacists, and community members.
• Michigan Antibiotic Resistance Reduction Coalition (MARR) - a nonprofit organization established in 1997. The project includes four independent, yet interlocking components: community intervention and education, provider intervention and education, tracking of antibiotic prescription trends and laboratory-based surveillance of trends in antibiotic resistance of streptococcus.
• Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, Inc. (SHEA) - was organized in 1980 to foster the development and application of the science of health care epidemiology. Most activities have been related to the prevention and control of nosocomial infections but, recently, there are increasing efforts to evaluate non-infectious outcomes of healthcare.
• Union of Concerned Scientists - UCS`s Food and Environment Program's focuses on reducing the use of antibiotics in food animals.
• World Health Organization Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response (WHO CSR) - developed the first Global Strategy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance, which covers six key points: disease prevention, access and appropriate use of antimicrobials, surveillance, the need for appropriate legislation and focused research. Addressed to policy-makers and managers in a range of sectors and agencies, the Strategy aims to both persuade governments to take urgent action and then to guide this action with expert technical and practical advice.

Research and Education

• A Public Health Action Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (CDC) (pdf) - reflects a broad-based consensus of federal agencies (task force created in 1999) and provides a blueprint for specific, coordinated federal actions to address.
• Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (CDC) - at nine Emerging Infections Program sites (EIPs), surveillance is conducted for invasive bacterial diseases due to pathogens of public health importance.
• Bacterial & Mycotic Diseases (CDC) - objectives and activities of the CDC National Campaign were launched in 1995. It has CDC project officers and program summaries with links to their websites.
• Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)(FDA) - in 1996, the FDA, in cooperation with other Public Health Service agencies, embarked on several major initiatives to address what is considered to be a major threat to the Public Health in the new millennium: the emergence of drug-resistance.
• FDA Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAR) - key recommendations and report (12-05-2000).
• Issues in Health Care Settings (CDC/DHQP) - Antimicrobial Resistance - a growing public health threat.
• Keep Antibiotics Working: The Campaign to End Antibiotic Overuse - includes concerned health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane and other advocacy groups whose primary goal is to end the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture.
• National Center for Infectious Disease (CDC/NCID) - site is designed to provide both general and technical information; includes definitions, general tips for reducing the spread of contagious (infectious) diseases, technical fact sheets, clinical guidelines, surveillance data, scientific publications, and internal and external links for more in-depth information.
• National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) - established in 1996 to monitor enteric bacteria. It is collaboration among CDC, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Center for Veterinary Medicine) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (Food Safety and Inspection Service and Agricultural Research Services). 50 state and 4 local public health laboratories currently participate.
• National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (CDC/NNIS) - a cooperative effort that began in 1970 between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and participating hospitals to create a national nosocomial infections database.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) - Antibiotic Resistance - disease causing microbes that have become resistant to drug therapy are an increasing public health problem. This site provides links to reliable information on antibiotic resistance from a variety of sources.