Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS): An Imperative Step to Reducing Resistance and Improving Infectious Disease Cure Rates

Abstract

The discovery of penicillin in 1940 by Alexandra Fleming brought a major breakthrough in the management of infectious diseases and further sparked special interest in the research and development of antimicrobial agents. However, in a matter of time, penicillin like the sulphonamide that predates it had to battle the evolution of antibiotics resistance as microbes threw out their strong offensives against this wonder drug. Over the years, we have seen the introduction of several other groups of antibiotics, from streptomycin to chloramphenicol, macrolides, aminoglycosides, ampicillin, and cephalosporins. But we still have had to combat the same problem of resistance against each of these newer agents. In the light of this, we moved towards drug combinations in order to mitigate the effect of resistance especially for the “Hospital Acquired Infections’”.  These combinations lead to better cure rate or more synergistic results. The sad news however is that treatment cost for infectious diseases continues to skyrocket while microbes acquire more virulent and resistant powers. The “cidal and static" actions of antibiotics left microbes with two options. To die or fight back. They choose the latter, hence, our predicament. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) seems to be the single most important way left in curbing resistance crises. The implementation of AMS in our various healthcare facilities in line with WHO protocols is an imperative step to improving infectious disease cure rates and stopping the emergence of new forms of bacterial resistance. However, the big question is “to what extent has this important policy been implemented in the healthcare institutions especially in developing countries of the world. There is a serious need for both the private and public healthcare facilities to prioritize AMS and join hands in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance.