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Advancing the public health workforce to achieve organizational excellence
Superbugs: A Super Problem

Related Categories: Learning Resource Center (LRC)

Topic: Community Development, Performance Management and Quality Improvement, TRAIN, Workforce Development

Date: 7/14/2014

Multi-drug resistant organisms or superbugs are a serious global public health problem. The rise of superbugs, due in large part to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, has numerous health consequences, as well as corresponding economic repercussions. Patients infected with resistant bacterial strains face increased risk for hospitalizations and death.  Last year, related costs taxed the United States healthcare system $20 billion.1

The Antibiotic Stewardship Program from the Public Health Foundation (PHF) grew out of a  partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to develop a framework of key drivers for reducing inappropriate antibiotic utilization in hospitals. In 2012, PHF initiated a driver diagram highlighting public health’s role in antibiotic stewardship. An interdisciplinary team of experts in quality improvement, infection control, epidemiology, and public health leadership, identified primary and secondary drivers of optimal antibiotic use to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistant infections and other adverse impacts of inappropriate antibiotic use.  This driver diagram has already been piloted in health departments in Maine, Connecticut, and Independence, Missouri.

In an effort to continue raising awareness on the importance of appropriate antibiotic stewardship within public health and healthcare, PHF is sharing a
recently released report from the World Health Organization (WHO), Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance 2014, that highlights the immediacy of the problem by stating, “a post-antibiotic era…is a very real possibility for the 21st century.”  To combat the spread of resistant bacterial strains, the WHO recommends vaccinations, proper hand hygiene, improved sanitation, and access to clean water.

PHF also provides other resources and training regarding antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship, including:
Visit TRAIN, the nation’s premier learning management network for professionals who protect the public's health, to access related courses, including:
Additional Resources
The following resources can also be of assistance to public health and healthcare organizations:
  1Accessed on June 13, 2014, Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance 2014

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Superbugs: A Super Problem