Multinational consensus antimicrobial stewardship recommendations for children managed in hospital settings

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• Children's antibiotic therapy may be overlooked in hospital antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs.
• Pediatric patients are a smaller proportion of hospital admissions and cared for by specialized staff.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop evidence-based recommendations for hospital AMS programs specifically for children.
• To improve the quality of antibiotic therapy for pediatric patients.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of scientific literature on pediatric AMS (2007-2019).
• Consultation with a multinational expert group from North America, Europe, and Oceania.
• Survey of healthcare workers on the importance and feasibility of recommendations.

Main Results:

• Ten recommendations for good-practice in pediatric hospital AMS programs were developed.
• Recommendations were deemed very important and generally feasible by surveyed healthcare workers.
• The developed recommendations aim to guide best-practice care for children.

Conclusions:

• Implementation of these recommendations can enhance antibiotic therapy for children.
• Further research is needed to continually improve pediatric AMS.
• Integrating pediatric considerations into AMS is crucial for equitable and effective patient care.