Society guideline links: Antimicrobial stewardship

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

International

●World Health Organization (WHO): Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (2016)

Canada

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Using antibiotics wisely

●Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS): Position statement on antimicrobial stewardship in daily practice – Managing an important resource (2014, reaffirmed 2020)

United States

●Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Core elements of antibiotic stewardship

●Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA): Antimicrobial stewardship

●SHEA: Statement on antibiotic stewardship in hospitals during public health emergencies (2022)

●American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Red Book – Antimicrobial stewardship (2021)

●American College of Physicians (ACP): Appropriate use of short-course antibiotics in common infections – Best practice advice (2021)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't continue antibiotics used for surgical prophylaxis after the patient has left the operating room (2015, revised 2019)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't obtain urine tests unless clinical criteria are met (2013, updated 2019)

●Choosing Wisely: Do not routinely order broad respiratory pathogen panels unless the result will affect patient management (2019)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't use antibiotics in patients with recent C. difficile without convincing evidence of need. Antibiotics pose a high risk of C. difficile infection and can lead to other adverse drug events (2015, revised 2019)

●Choosing Wisely: Antibiotics should not be used for viral respiratory illnesses (sinusitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis and bronchiolitis) (2013, updated 2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't initiate empiric antibiotic therapy in the patient with suspected invasive bacterial infection without first confirming that blood, urine or other appropriate cultures have been obtained, excluding exceptional cases (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't use a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent for perioperative prophylaxis or continue prophylaxis after the incision is closed for uncomplicated clean and clean-contaminated procedures (2018)

●Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA): Clinical practice guideline for the management of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't prescribe antimicrobials to patients using indwelling or intermittent catheterization of the bladder unless there are signs and symptoms of urinary tract infection (2015, updated 2017)

●IDSA and SHEA: Guidelines for implementing an antibiotic stewardship program (2016)

●Choosing Wisely: Avoid prescribing antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (2015)

●Choosing Wisely: Avoid routine postoperative antibiotics (2015)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't use antimicrobials to treat bacteriuria in older adults unless specific urinary tract symptoms are present (2013)

Europe

●European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Directory of online resources for the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and healthcare-associated infections (HAI)

●European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID): European recommendations for antimicrobial resistance surveillance (2004)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Guideline on antimicrobial stewardship – Changing risk-related behaviours in the general population (2017)

●NICE: Quality standard on antimicrobial stewardship (2016)

●NICE: Guideline on antimicrobial stewardship – Systems and processes for effective antimicrobial medicine use (2015)

India

●Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR): Treatment guidelines for antimicrobial use in common syndromes (2019)

Australia-New Zealand

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Lists of recommendations – Antibiotics

●Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care: Antimicrobial stewardship clinical care standard

Japan

●[In Japanese] Choosing Wisely Japan: When antibiotic is required, when it is not necessary (2015)