November 22, 2013
Two members of the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP) working groups from India and Nepal shared their findings at a conference on antibiotic stewardship last month in Hanoi.
The conference took place October 25-26 and was hosted by the Vietnam Society of Infectious Diseases and the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases (NHTD). The meeting focused on antibiotic stewardship in Vietnam and Asia, and was sponsored by the Vietnam Resistance Project (VINARES), which is led by the NHTD and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU). VINARES aims to improve national evidence-based research and surveillance of antibiotic use in Vietnam.
Abhilasha Karkey, a medical microbiologist at the OUCRU in Kathmandu and a member of the GARP-Nepal working group, talked about her work on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in Nepal, highlighting the particular problem of antibiotic-resistance HAIs. Information about antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the country remains quite limited, but Karkey showed how certain pathogens, especially Gram-negative organisms such as Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant by producing extended-spectrum ? lactamase (ESBL) enzymes spread and were tracked in Patan Hospital in Kathmandu. Karkey emphasized the need for the intensive promotion of hygiene practices, the further education of healthcare personnel and improved antimicrobial stewardship in Nepal.
Anita Kotwani, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Delhi s V.P. Chest Institute and a member of the GARP-India working group, presented research on antimicrobial use and resistance in India. She discussed the establishment of a methodology for tracking antibiotic use in New Delhi, which was carried out in a two-phase process that first tracked exit interviews and later expanded into detailed community surveillance. Using the same methodology, researchers then tracked the consumption of antibiotics in rural Karnataka State, making comparisons with patterns in New Delhi. The research found that antibiotic overuse was common in both rural and urban areas. Kotwani stressed that further antibiotic stewardship initiatives, including the monitoring of antibiotic use and resistance, are necessary in India.
Representatives from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore were also at the conference, presenting research results and participating in discussions about antibiotic stewardship and policy initiatives.
