Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship

Antibiotic or Antimicrobial Resistance is the ability of germs to survive treatment with drugs designed to get rid of them.

About Resistance

Antibiotic or Antimicrobial Resistance is the ability of germs to survive treatment with drugs designed to get rid of them. Antibiotic-resistant infections can affect anyone in any walk of life, although some people are more at risk than others. Treating infections caused by resistant organisms is difficult, needing more expensive drugs which may have serious side effects. There are actions everyone can take to prevent the development of new resistance and reduce the spread of resistance that already exists. The term used for such actions is antibiotic or antimicrobial stewardship.

For more information about resistance, including how and why antimicrobial resistance develops explore the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Antimicrobial Resistance web page.

About Stewardship

Antimicrobial stewardship refers to a coordinated group of activities which can occur on the individual, facility, regional, state and national level that:

  • promote the appropriate use of antibiotics
  • improve patient outcomes
  • reduce antibiotic resistance, and
  • decrease the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.

Some actions to reach the above goals require few resources, but can have a large impact (like hand washing), while others may require more money or technical support (like gathering information on how many people are taking antibiotics). Regardless, everyone, both patients and providers, has a role and every step to initiate an antimicrobial stewardship program or improve upon guidelines is a step in the right direction.

For more information about what you can do to fight antimicrobial resistance, follow the links below:

For questions about what the Division of Public Health Services is doing to encourage antimicrobial stewardship and reduce healthcare-associated infections, call 271-4496 or email us at dhhs.hai.program@dhhs.nh.gov.

Program Information

Related Resources

Third week in November is U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week

This annual one-week observance raises awareness around the importance of appropriate antibiotic use to combat the threat of antibiotic resistance. Go to CDC’s U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW) web page to learn how you can be involved.

The DHHS Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Surveillance Program has been actively engaged with its public health partners since its establishment in 2007. To remain current the HAI Program has evolved, adapting to the changing healthcare landscape. One such adaptation is the increased effort focused on the growing concern of antimicrobial resistance. The program has been working collaboratively with key stakeholders to enhance the antimicrobial resistance (AR) surveillance infrastructure as well as encouraging antimicrobial stewardship activities. Some of the HAI Program’s activities and resources are listed below.

New Hampshire Antimicrobial Resistance Advisory Workgroup

Since fall 2016, the NH HAI program has been working in collaboration with DPHS leadership, the Foundation for Healthy Communities (FHC) Partnership for Patients, and the CMS-contracted Quality Improvement Organization/Network (QIO/QIN) to discuss activities, coordinate efforts, align resources, and to convene the NH Antimicrobial Resistance Advisory Workgroup (ARAW). This group provides advice on current and future AR activities, surveillance, and strategic planning. This workgroup is made up of a diverse group of stakeholders and experts in a variety of related fields:

Group Expertise Representation

  • Medicine: Infectious Disease, Allergy, Emergency, and Primary Care
  • Pharmacy
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health
  • Dentistry
  • Veterinary Medicine
  • Facility and Professional Licensing
  • Hospital
  • Outpatient: Urgent Care, Primary Care
  • Long Term Care
  • Rural Health
  • Academia

Neither list is entirely complete as membership continues to grow. If you are interested in being part of this workgroup, or know of an antimicrobial stewardship champion who would be a good match for the workgroup, please email us at dhhs.haiprogram@dhhs.nh.gov.

One Health in Antimicrobial Resistance

The ARAW group is also a strong supporter of One Health. One Health refers to the integrative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. Together, the three make up the One Health triad, since each is inextricably connected to the others. The goal of One Health is to encourage the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines-working locally, nationally, and globally-to achieve the best health for people, animals, and our environment.

For more information on One Health initiatives and the role of veterinary medicine in antimicrobial resistance see the links below:

 Escape Site