The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine recently published an article regarding the progress and challenges in managing nursing home infections. The article states that infections are one of the leading causes of death and hospitalization for residents in post-acute and long-term care settings. With the aging population, increasing complexity of care and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship have been receiving even greater emphasis worldwide.
Residents of post-acute and long-term care settings are especially prone to serious infections because of their frail physiological status, multiple morbidities and often-immunocompromised states. Nursing homes cluster their residents in high-density, high-interaction settings and antibiotic overuse is common, so it is not surprising that risks for infections and multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are high.
In closing, the world is facing a crisis of antibiotic resistance with dire predictions that in the absence of major change by 2050, we will be facing a near pandemic of multidrug-resistant infections and deaths. It is now time and in fact past time to more fully change the culture of infection control in post-acute and long-term care. To read the article in its entirety click the link below: