Antimicrobial stewardship is a term used to describe appropriate selection, dosing, route, and duration of antimicrobial therapy. The primary goal of antimicrobial stewardship is to optimize clinical outcomes while minimizing unintended consequences of antimicrobial use, including toxicity, the selection of pathogenic organisms, and the emergence of resistance. Thus, the appropriate use of antimicrobials is an essential part of patient safety and deserves careful oversight and guidance.

APUA projects

Hospital and Societal Costs of Antibiotic Resistant Infections in a Chicago Teaching Hospital: Implications for Antibiotic Stewardship
Continuing Medical Education Curriculum: Bacteria Battle Back - Addressing Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotic Resistance Summit: Truth and Consequences in Community Medical Practice

APUA held two World Congresses on the following topics:
Devising Improved Methods for Identification and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (2007)
Strengthening Society’s Infectious Disease Defenses: Accelerating Incentives for Research & Development (2006)

APUA convened a scientific meeting of experts on June 10, 2003 to review current knowledge of the epidemiology of uncomplicated UTIs and consider how to develop professional guidelines for treatment of UTIs with resistance in mind.

Report: Acute Uncomplicated Cystitis in an Era of Increasing Antibiotic Resistance: A Proposed Approach to Empirical Therapy

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Other resources

Survey of Expert Opinion on Antibiotic Stewardship Programs
APUA Scientific Advisory Board

"Antibiotics - A Review of ED Use"
Katherine Miller, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Arizona
Chief Editor: Rick Kulkarni, M.D., Medical Director, Adult Emergency Department, Yale New Haven Hospital

"What Every Health Care Executive Should Know: The Cost of Antibiotic Resistance": Chapter 5, Antibiotic Stewardship
Stephen G. Weber, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases; Medical Director of Infection Control and Clinical Quality, University of Chicago Medical Center; Infection Prevention and Control Services Consultant, Joint Commission Resources

The Mayo Clinic Proceedings: 15-part "Symposium on Antimicrobial Therapy" to guide practicing physicians in prescribing antibiotics

• Introduction to the Symposium on Antimicrobial Therapy (February 2011)

• General Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy (February 2011)

• Current Concepts in Antimicrobial Therapy Against Resistant Gram-Negative Organisms: Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase–Producing Enterobacteriaceae, Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (March 2011)

Antibiotic Stewardship Literature Review (February 2011)

Genomics to Combat Resistance against Antibiotics in Community-acquired LRTI in Europe (GRACE) Newsletter(January 2011)

• APRES Research Study on assessing the appropriateness of prescribing antibiotics in the primary health care setting

• RAPP-ID will develop RAPID diagnostic tests for Infectious Diseases, including CA-LRTI

• Spreading excellence in respiratory tract infections: CRP and the antibiotic prescribing decision

Guidelines for Developing an Institutional Program to Enhance Antimicrobial Stewardship (2007)
Infectious Diseases Society of America, Society for Health Care Epidemiology of America

ESKAPE Pathogens Antibiotic Stewardship
T.V. Rao, M.D.

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