No abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a global crisis that requires urgent action to halt its spread. The rate of deaths due to antibiotic resistance from bacterial infection reached 25,000 annually. Resistance rates to Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have risen to reach 40% and 56% respectively, in addition to high resistance rates of Acinetobacter baumannii to fluoroquinolones and other antibiotics that reached 56%. So it has become an urgent need to establish robust programs to control antibiotic resistance and optimize the use of antibiotics in hospitals. In Egypt particularly, the rate of antibiotic resistance becomes high due to wrong traditions of dispensing and administering antibiotics in hospitals and pharmacies, all that drove us to build a program controlling all these obstacles. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are strategic programs to prevent the development of microbial resistance and monitor prescription patterns of clinicians inside hospitals. In addition to minimizing the toxic effects, overuse of antibiotics and improve patient health, and minimize the emergence of antibiotic resistance in the shadow of the lack of development of novel antimicrobial agents. In this review, we aimed to discuss antimicrobial stewardship programs, their core elements, clinical importance, essential requirements, and their implementation in Egypt. In conclusion, the development of national guidelines for antimicrobial stewardship programs would be a useful step to help clinicians in making evidence-based treatment choices regarding antibiotic therapy and the implementation of better antibiotics during pandemics. We hope this review helps the medical staff to perform stewardship programs to control antibiotic resistance in Egyptian healthcare settings.