Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs)

Infectious disease clinicians traditionally have had the leadership role in recommending appropriate and optimal antibiotic use of antibiotics in hospitals. This judicious and optimized use of antimicrobial agents is the central principle of antimicrobial stewardship. In addition to increased awareness among infectious disease experts, antimicrobial stewardship has become a national priority. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) promoted antimicrobial stewardship by creating incentives to encourage new anti-infective research. The Infectious Diseases of Society of America (IDSA) launched the campaign “Bad Bugs, No Drugs” to plead for the development of new systemic antibiotics.1 While efforts at stewardship are important in their own right, the relative paucity of new agents and the spread of multi-drug resistant organisms have further emphasized the need for antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in order to preserve the antimicrobial agents that are currently available.