The NB Provincial Health Authorities Anti-infective Stewardship Committee under the direction of the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee have updated their Anti-microbial treatment Guidelines. New section on intra-abdominal infections, new antibiotic dosing tool and updates to acute bacterial rhinosinusitis and acute exacerbation of COPD.

When prescribing antibiotics these guidelines have the following general recommendations:

Carefully consider if an antimicrobial is truly warranted in the given clinical situation

Consult local anti-biograms when selecting empiric therapy

Include a documented indication, appropriate dose, route and the planned duration of therapy in all antimicrobial drug orders

Obtain microbiological cultures before the administration of antibiotics (when possible)

Reassess therapy after 24-72 hours to determine if antibiotic therapy is still warranted or effective for the given organism or clinical situation. Reassess based on relevantclinical data, microbiologic and/or radiographic information

Assess for de-escalation as appropriate based on available microbiology culture and susceptibility results

See the full NB Anti-Microbial Guideline Here