Abstract
Antibiotic use and microbial resistance in health care-associated infections are increasing globally and causing health care problems. Intensive Care Units (ICUs) represent the heaviest antibiotic burden within hospitals, and sepsis is the second noncardiac cause of mortality in ICUs. Optimizing appropriate antibiotic treatment in the management of the critically ill in ICUs became a major challenge for intensivists. We performed a surveillance study on the antibiotic consumption in 108 Polish ICUs. We determined which classes of antibiotics were most commonly consumed and whether they affected the length of ICU stay and the size and category of the hospital. A total of 292.389 defined daily doses (DDD) and 192.167 patient-days (pd) were identified. Antibiotic consumption ranged from 620 to 3960 DDD/1000 pd. The main antibiotic classes accounted for 59.6% of the total antibiotic consumption and included carbapenems (17.8%), quinolones (14%), cephalosporins (13.7%), penicillins (11.9%), and macrolides (2.2%), respectively, whereas the other antibiotic classes accounted for the remainder (40.4%) and included antifungals (34%), imidazoles (20%), aminoglycosides (18%), glycopeptides (15%), and polymyxins (6%). The most consumed antibiotic classes in Polish ICUs were carbapenems, quinolones, and cephalosporins, respectively. There was no correlation between antibiotic consumption in DDD/1000 patient-days, mean length of ICU stay, size of the hospital, size of the ICU, or the total amount of patient-days. It is crucial that surveillance systems are in place to guide empiric antibiotic treatment and to estimate the burden of resistance. Appropriate use of antibiotics in the ICU should be an important public health care issue.
Highlights
Antibiotic use and microbial resistance in health careassociated infections are increasing globally and, in European countries such as Poland, causing health care problems [1,2,3]
Our study shows that the three classes of antibiotics most consumed in Polish Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are the carbapenems, quinolones, and cephalosporins
Similar studies on the annual consumption of antibiotics in ICUs were conducted in other European countries: in Germany, the SARI Surveillance System [9] and in Sweden, the ICU-STRAMA [10]
Summary
Antibiotic use and microbial resistance in health careassociated infections are increasing globally and, in European countries such as Poland, causing health care problems [1,2,3]. Data on antimicrobial consumption in Polish ICUs are limited. Poland participated in the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) project, collecting data on antimicrobial consumption in ambulatory care and hospital setting. Poland participated in the European Point Prevalence Survey of Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Use (EU-PPS HAI&AU) in 2011 and in 2012 [7]. [8] showed a high prevalence of health care-associated infections among patients hospitalized in both adult and pediatric Polish ICUs. ey concluded that there is a need for a national infection prevention program in Poland for these groups.
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